Cleveland Browns QB Deshaun Watson faces an uncertain future with his current team. But his first mission is getting healthy. Watson took that first step Friday, undergoing “successful” surgery to fix the torn Achilles in his right foot he suffered in Week 7’s loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.
The team’s Twitter/X account shared the news Thursday afternoon.
“QB Deshaun Waston underwent successful surgery today to repair his ruptured right Achilles tendon,” the team said in a statement. “The surgery was performed by Dr. Bob Anderson, a foot and ankle specialist in Charlotte, NC, and a full recovery is expected.”
And it’s worth pointing out that misspelling of Watson’s last name – “Waston” – was a typo directly from the Browns’ team site. It sorta sums up the Watson-Browns saga, a complete mess from the very start to what could be the very end.
Anderson is regarded as the go-to doctor for foot injuries. A 2019 ESPN profile highlighted that he’s performed surgery for nearly 300 NFL players, a number he’s possibly reached by now.
Watson went down on an attempted run late in the first half of last Sunday’s loss to the Bengals. It was immediately evident the injury was serious, and CBS declined to show the replay, a decision made only for the most ugly-looking injuries. Watson was visibly emotional as he was carted off and quickly ruled out. Tests confirmed the team’s fear of a torn Achilles, ending his season.
It ends with another disappointment. The Browns envisioned getting one of the NFL’s best quarterbacks when they traded for him ahead of the 2022 season, the player he was in his prime with the Houston Texans. Instead, they’ve gotten a husk of what he was, a quarterback struggling to see the field, make good decisions, scramble around, and is one of the worst PR-disasters in recent sports history.
A timetable to return is unclear. If doctors utilized the “speed bridge,” his recovery could be faster and he might be healthy for the start of 2025.
On the field, Watson holds a 9-10 record as Cleveland’s starter with 19 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. He’s been sacked at an increasingly high rate, a league-worst 33 times this year. He’ll likely hold that “lead” for the next several weeks before anyone else passes him by, second-place dropped just 21 times.
Jameis Winston will replace Watson this weekend against the Baltimore Ravens. Watson’s future with the Browns is murky. The Browns still owe him a metric-ton of money, but surely understand starting him another season will only provide underwhelming results to a restless fan base. Sitting at 1-6, Cleveland is thinking about their future. As is Watson.
