Sunday, the Pittsburgh Steelers will see the Cleveland Browns for a second time this season. But it remains to be seen if they’ll see QB Deshaun Watson again.
After suffering an ankle injury in the first half of Week 10’s comeback victory over the Baltimore Ravens, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport says “more information” is needed by the team before Watson’s status is determined for the Steelers’ game.
“More information is needed to determine whether or not Deshaun Watson will be on the field for what’s now shaping up to be a huge game against the Pittsburgh Steelers,” Rapoport told NFL Total Access Monday.
Watson suffered the ankle injury but missed only one snap before returning for the second half. His play vastly improved after a terrible start and the Browns rallied to beat the Ravens 33-30 on a game-winning 40-yard field goal by kicker Dustin Hopkins. As you can see in the above clip, Watson got his ankle trapped while being tackled, and slightly hobbled as he came off the field.
In the first meeting between the Steelers and Browns, Watson completed 22-of-40 passes for 235 yards, a touchdown, and an interception, the latter a pick-six by OLB Alex Highsmith on Watson’s first snap of the game. Watson is 0-2 against the Steelers as a Brown, also losing in last year’s regular-season finale.
Watson underwent an MRI on Monday. The results from it are currently unknown. Rapoport guesses that considering Watson did return to the game, he has a good chance of playing. But he cautions that knowing Watson has been plagued by so many injuries this season, most notably a bruised rotator cuff that caused him to miss a month, it shouldn’t be assumed he will start this weekend.
Head coach Kevin Stefanski told reporters Monday he didn’t yet have MRI results and could not make any determinations for Sunday’s game.
“We’ll see where we are when Wednesday rolls around,” he said via beat writer Mary Kay Cabot.
If Watson can’t go, the Browns will again turn to veteran backup P.J. Walker. Appearing in five games and starting two, Walker has completed only 49 percent of his passes with one touchdown pass and five interceptions. He is 1-1 as a starter, the Browns pulling off an upset against the San Francisco 49ers in Week Six.
The Browns will issue their first injury report on Wednesday, though we could have a clearer understanding of Watson’s status by tomorrow.
