Deshaun Watson isn’t exactly the apple of Cleveland’s eye.
The Cleveland Browns acquired the then-star quarterback of the Houston Texans in March 2022. Watson signed an unprecedented $230 million, fully guaranteed contract. But before playing a game for the Browns, he served an 11-game suspension stemming from two dozen sexual assault misconduct allegations.
By June 2022, 20 of 24 lawsuits had been settled, and all remaining lawsuits were resolved this February.
Watson played just 19 games from 2022 to 2024 due to injuries, including a twice torn Achilles tendon. When he played, his performance left much to be desired.
After all that, Browns fans have had a palpable disdain for Watson, who remained defensive toward fans and the media to start this NFL season.
For NFL on Prime’s Thursday Night Football pregame broadcast, Watson hit a lot of the same beats with interviewer extraordinaire Taylor Rooks.
Ahead of #TNFonPrime, @TaylorRooks sat down to chat with Browns QB Deshaun Watson pic.twitter.com/15eA1yfb12
— NFL on Prime Video (@NFLonPrime) October 1, 2026
“The biggest is just my mental state,” Watson said when asked about his up-and-down play in Cleveland. “I don’t think it’s ever really been the physical part. I was dealing with a lot; I was dealing with the world kind of flipping against me. And it was hard, honestly. I think being able to grow through that and manage through that, it took time.”
Watson described himself as mentally absent in recent years and stated that he talks with someone weekly to work through mental and emotional struggles.
Rooks pressed Watson on the boos coming from both poor performance and off-field controversy, plainly asking, “Is that skepticism fair?”
“Fair? Of course, to me, I’m gonna say no,” Watson said after a deep breath. “But life isn’t fair, and I understand. I can accept my responsibilities and everything that I went through and feel and move forward.”
“You do understand the apprehension, whether you agree with it or not?” Rooks asked.
“I definitely understand it. Yes, ma’am,” Watson said.
From there, Watson said that he “didn’t want to get my hopes up” about Browns fans cheering him instead of booing, as they did after he led Cleveland to a win over the Carolina Panthers last Sunday.
Still, Watson hasn’t changed his stance on fans booing him in the preseason — contradicting what he’d said a few moments prior about understanding fans’ apprehension.
“I understood some of it,” Watson said. “But a lot of it, especially when it becomes more character[-based], that’s where I didn’t really agree with it. We can talk about performance and things like that, of course, because I feel like, the last couple of years, I wanted to play and play better. It just didn’t happen that way.”
Rooks asked Watson about the expectation of earning every penny of his historic guaranteed contract, to which he said, “I agree with that. I mean, that’s what they pay us to do. To be able to earn the money and be the top guy. To [whom] much is given, music is required. So, a lot of attention and pressure is going to be on myself.”
Watson said he wants his tenure with the Browns to be remembered as “special,” and then he displayed the same startling lack of self-awareness that has plagued him this whole time.
“I think, just everything that I battled, everything that I went through, I rose through it,” Watson said. “I continue to have grace, I continue to give, I continue to show that I have that grit and that determination to be the best that I possibly can be for this city.
“Regardless of what went on the last couple of years and what people said about me, I still appreciate the opportunity that I have to play in front of this fan base. Play for the organization. And do the best I can to bring wins and something positive.”
Rooks asked all the right questions. That’s all any interviewer can do, and Rooks did it with exceptional poise and respect. Neither Rooks nor anyone else can force Watson to give the answers people have been waiting to hear for years. Rob Parker may believe Watson is “a tremendous comeback story,” but some basic accountability would be nice.
About Megan Armstrong
Since first getting published as a student by the Kansas City Star in 2013, Megan Armstrong has gone wherever curiosity and stories have taken her, specializing in sports, media, music, and culture coverage. She also has an extensive background in interviewing and profiling public figures. Her work has appeared in Billboard, Boardroom, Bleacher Report, Esquire, GQ, GRAMMY.com, NYLON, Newsweek, Teen Vogue, The Hollywood Reporter, UPROXX, and elsewhere.