The weirdness started on a Wednesday — three days after Deshaun Watson played his best game as a member of the Cleveland Browns.
Despite the 2-1 Browns heading into a pivotal AFC North matchup against the Baltimore Ravens, their starting quarterback didn’t throw in practice during the portion that was open to the media, with his status later listed as “limited” due to a sore throwing shoulder.
It later emerged that Watson had suffered a “shoulder contusion” taking a hit on a designed quarterback run during Cleveland’s 27-3 win over the Tennessee Titans, but the messaging from the team and Watson, himself, indicated that he’d be ready to play against Baltimore. That same day, Watson took part in his weekly media session and answered questions as if there was no doubt he’d be playing vs. the Ravens.
Things got weirder from there.
On Thursday, Watson was once again limited in practice, but did make a few warmup throws during the portion open to reporters. On Friday — a critical practice day — he threw one pass in practice with reporters present and then walked over to a trainer, prompting The Athletic’s Zac Jackson to speculate that the Browns would be preparing rookie Dorian Thompson-Robinson to start vs. Baltimore.
We saw Watson throw one pass then he walked over to the trainer at the start of practice. Have to guess DTR is getting prepped to play.
We will hear from Stefanski in an hour.
— Zac Jackson (@AkronJackson) September 29, 2023
Despite all signs pointing to Watson being sidelined, he told Cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot that he expected to play vs. Baltimore. Watson was officially listed as questionable, the prevailing belief from the team and media appeared to be that he would, in fact, play.
Come Sunday morning, that changed.
Ahead of the 1 p.m. kickoff at Cleveland Browns Stadium, Watson took part in a brief pregame throwing session that made it apparent to even reporter watching from the press box that he wouldn’t be playing. The three-time Pro Bowl selection was ultimately inactive for the game, with Thompson-Robinson struggling throughout a 28-3 Baltimore win.
After the game, Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski said that Watson had hoped to play but ultimately didn’t feel comfortable doing so. He also said that the shoulder injury wasn’t a tear or separation — “structurally he’s okay” — that he anticipated Watson playing when Cleveland returned from its ensuing bye week against the San Francisco 49ers on Oct. 15.
A day later, Stefanski reiterated that it was Watson’s decision not to play.
“He knows his body,” Stefanski said. “He’s played through serious pain before, very, very serious injuries. It wasn’t a matter of pain tolerance or anything. He just did not feel like he had his full faculties.”
That answer, however, differed, from what Cleveland general manager Andrew Berry said of Watson’s status during his bye week press conference.
“It became a very easy decision for us not to put him out there,” Berry said, referencing the quarterback’s performance in the pregame workout.
The weirdness ramped back up again on Monday when Watson wasn’t present at the Browns’ first practice back from the bye week. Cabot later reported that Watson was practicing inside — away from the rest of the team — while Stefanski declined to say whether he was still optimistic his starting quarterback would play vs. the 49ers on Sunday.
“I’m not going to get into specifics about Sunday,” Stefanski said. “I know it’s a broken record, but really just treat it day-by-day.”
On Tuesday, Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network provided perhaps the most clarity to the situation, reporting that Watson was dealing with a “rotator cuff contusion” and that his status vs. San Francisco was TBD.”
Follow all that?
So after all indications appeared to be that the team expected Watson to play vs. the Ravens, eight days later, they can’t say whether they’re sure he’ll be able to play the following Sunday. Either there is some sort of major disconnect between Watson and Stefanski and/or the team, or something has changed in his injury status from what was first believed (or at least put out to the public).
While there might be a minimal competitive advantage gained by Stefanski being vague — and he usually is — the problem with the lack of information surrounding the Watson injury is that it only fuels speculation and conspiracies. In the week since Cleveland’s loss to Baltimore, sports talk radio and social media have been filled with claims that Watson — who once played with a partially collapsed lung and broken rib — wasn’t being tough enough or was executing some sort of power play over the franchise.
"Deshaun Watson should be EMBARRASSED of himself. Get your tail out there and play some football." 😳
— @willcolon66 goes OFF about Watson not playing in Browns vs. Ravens pic.twitter.com/6KtVtyOfS5
— The Carton Show (@TheCartonShow) October 10, 2023
This isn’t fair to Watson, who almost nobody is going to feel bad for, for obvious reasons. And in a league increasingly tethered to the gambling industry, it’s interesting to see such a lack of information available for such a major injury — at least as far as the implications are concerned.
More than anything, however, the messaging from the Browns surrounding Watson’s injury isn’t fair to the fans, who have now spent nearly three weeks wondering when the team’s franchise quarterback might be available. After an off day on Tuesday, the team will return to practice on Wednesday. One would hope that by then, the team does a better job figuring out its messaging on the matter.
