Cleveland Browns QB Deshaun Watson missed most of the 2023 season due to a shoulder injury that he’s still rehabbing. Indeed, he admits that the timeline for his return isn’t clear and that they’re taking things day to day. Still, he offered insight into where he is and what’s next as he tries to play a full season for the first time as a Brown.
“I feel really good. Very confident in myself in the process that’s going. My shoulder’s been really well, so just making sure that I don’t do anything extra that’s going to harm it or anything like that”, Watson told reporters yesterday, via the team’s website. He added that he is “throwing full speed” with “fluid motion”, but noted he isn’t throwing to targets or downfield.
The Browns are installing a new offense under offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey this offseason. Not having Watson around on the field can complicate matters, but head coach Kevin Stefanski isn’t rushing the matter.
“We’ll make sure that we are smart about Deshaun [Watson]’s rehab, focus on getting him ready for the season”, he said. “We’re constantly trying to get better as an offense, but we’re not going to speed Deshaun up just to get the offense sped up”.
In six games played in 2023, Watson completed 105 of 171 pass attempts for 1,115 yards. He threw seven touchdowns to four interceptions with a 6.5-yard average and an 84.3 quarterback rating. The Browns went 5-1 in those games, however, the lone loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Pittsburgh’s defense scored two defensive touchdowns in that one to provide the difference.
After cycling through other options, they plucked Joe Flacco off the couch, who served them. He finished the regular season strong and locked up a postseason berth, though they lost in the opening round. Flacco signed elsewhere, the Browns adding Jameis Winston and Tyler Huntley for depth, a Deshaun Watson injury insurance policy.
“They have a very very good plan, Deshaun [Watson], the medical team, of ramping him up and throwing”, Stefanski noted. “He’s doing all the things he’s supposed to be doing when it comes to rehab. So, when we get to those points in OTAs and minicamp, we’ll go with what’s suggested by the medical team, but he’s doing a great job”.
For his part, Watson suggested that he expects to participate at some level during OTAs next month. It’s too early to say, however, given that he isn’t even throwing to targets yet. “I think we got to see how these next couple of weeks go”, he said.
The Browns, of course, can’t afford not to root for Watson. They still owe him $46 million guaranteed in each of the next three season, so they might as well get a good quarterback and solid play out of him.
To that end, they’ve continued to add to his weapons, recently trading for WR Jerry Jeudy. It’s the third time in as many years the Browns traded for a starting wide receiver. They brought in Amari Cooper in 2021 and Elijah Moore in 2022.
