ESPN’s ‘Sunday NFL Countdown’ critical of Deshaun Watson’s emotional composure

The Cleveland Browns opened the season Sunday on the road against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Much to the chagrin of many Browns fans, first-year head coach Todd Monken trotted veteran Deshaun Watson out as the starting quarterback, despite a less-than-inspiring preseason that included a testy press conference in which Watson was critical of Browns fans.

Heading into Week 1, during ESPN’s Sunday NFL Countdown, the studio crew broke down Monken’s decision and Watson’s composure heading into the season.

“I mean, no way would I have started him,” former NFL head coach Rex Ryan said. “No way. In fact, I would have cut him. I mean, that press conference right there, there’s no [more] important thing than that fan base. And no way in hell, I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.”

The ESPN ‘Sunday NFL Countdown’ crew sounds off on Deshaun Watson.

Rex Ryan: “No way would I have started him. No way. In fact, I would have cut him. I mean, that press conference… There’s no more important thing than that fan base. No way in hell.” pic.twitter.com/CycVRoJUwv

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 13, 2026

“As soon as I heard that, I’m like, there is no way. It’s funny, you hear Darlington mention that he struggled throwing a deep ball. That’s what Shedeur does. He throws the deep ball better than anybody. But forget that. I don’t care who was the backup. No way would I have kept this guy.

“Now, I will say this. It speaks volumes about Todd Monken because Todd Monken’s like, ‘No, I’m not letting any outside noise affect my decision.’ And so to me, I tip my hat to Todd Monken. He’s a better man than I am. But no way I would have said—I couldn’t have dealt with that kind of pressure. No chance.”

Former quarterback Alex Smith echoed Ryan’s sentiment, and even pointed out that the on-field concerns surrounding Watson are glaring enough without even accounting for his off-the-field transgressions. 

“How out of touch do you have to be if you’re Deshaun?” Smith asked. “What have you done to give this fan base to cheer for, right? Like, honestly, this is going to go down as maybe one of the worst trades in the history of football, one of the worst contracts in the history of football. You’ve been completely unavailable, and when you have been on the field, it’s been terrible….We’re not even talking about the debacle that is the off-the-field issues.”

Randy Moss voiced his doubts about Watson’s emotional readiness, but was at least willing to give him a chance to see how he gels with his young quarterbacks.

“His emotions, you know, it just seems to me like they’re damaged,” Moss offered. “And for a guy like this coming on the road with everything that was going on in the offseason, I’m kind of anxious to see what this offense is going to look like in good weather on the road. And the reason why is because of the last two seasons of what Cleveland has showed.

“They’ve showed they’re going to play some young guys. Last year, Judkins at running back, Fanning Jr. at tight end. This year, Deshaun Watson has some young wide receivers to throw to, Concepcion and Denzel Boston, to go along with [Jerry] Jeudy. So for me, with all the booing, all the whining that we heard over the last month, hey, it’s either put up or shut up time, and I want to see if Deshaun Watson can make it happen.”

Prime Video NFL analysts Kirk Herbstreit and Al Michaels also advocated for giving Watson a chance to show he can recapture the Pro Bowl form from his days with the Houston Texans. Unfortunately for the case the veteran is looking to make, he threw an interception in his opening series before going three-and-out on the next two.