If the Cleveland Browns are going to become an AFC contender, they need their star quarterback, Deshaun Watson, to make a full recovery from his season-ending shoulder injury.
Watson is promising Browns fans much more than that.
“I’ll be better than I was before in Week 1,” Watson told The Cleveland Plain Dealer on Thursday. “I’m very confident in the roles of the doctors. Dr. [Neal] ElAttrache and his team, following their lead, just all the research that I’ve done. And then just my work and preparation. I’ve put my whole life into this. I want to make sure I come back even better than before.”
Watson was limited to six starts last season due to a right shoulder injury. He returned after missing two games but was then removed from a Week 6 start against the Indianapolis Colts and, weeks later, he was shut down for the season amid the need for surgery to repair a displaced fracture.
In the six games that he appeared in, Watson, a three-time Pro Bowler with the Houston Texans, totaled just 1,115 passing yards, seven passing touchdowns, four interceptions and an 84.3 passer rating, while completing 61.4% of his passes. He also ran for 142 yards and one touchdown.
Cleveland started Dorian Thompson-Robinson and P.J. Walker in Watson’s absence before signing 38-year-old Joe Flacco off his couch. The former Super Bowl MVP proceeded to throw for 1,616 yards and 13 touchdowns across five regular-season starts. The Browns finished 11-6 and made the playoffs but lost to the Texans in the AFC wild-card round. Then they lost Flacco to the Colts in free agency. To back up Watson this season, Cleveland has signed quarterbacks Jameis Winston and Tyler Huntley to one-year deals.
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Watson appeared in just six games in his 2022 debut season with the Browns due to an 11-game suspension for violating the NFL’s personal-conduct policy. He sat out the 2021 season with the Texans before Cleveland traded three first-round draft picks, a third-rounder and two fourth-rounders for Watson and a sixth-rounder in the 2022 offseason. He led the NFL with 4,823 passing yards in 2020.
Watson, 28, is entering the third season of a fully guaranteed, five-year, $230 million deal.
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