CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – Following one of the most consequential wins since the franchise returned in 1999 Sunday afternoon in Baltimore, the Cleveland Browns received devastating news.
Quarterback Deshaun Watson's season is over.
“I'm still in disbelief,” Watson said Wednesday morning. “I'm still, like I said I’m just trying to process all the information that I've been getting since [Tuesday] night. It’s tough. I felt like we were turning a corner to really make a run, and I still believe we still will with the guys in this locker room. I just wanted to be physically a part of it on the field with those guys and six weeks I was down and try to come back and two weeks later I’m back out again. So yeah, it's tough to try to wrap everything around my head right now.”
Watson suffered a displaced fracture to the glenoid in his right shoulder during the second quarter of Sunday’s 33-31 victory over the Ravens that will require immediate surgery.
Watson also suffered a high ankle sprain in the win that sent him to the locker room in the first half and forced backup P.J. Walker to take a few snaps before Watson returned.
MRIs taken Monday revealed both injuries.
“Obviously we are very disappointed and devastated for Deshaun, especially given all that he has battled and gone through medically this season, and especially in light of how well he's played since his most recent, most recent injury,” Browns executive vice president of football operations and general manager Andrew Berry said.
Despite Watson’s pleas to continue to play with the broken throwing shoulder, doctors shut him down.
“I pushed very hard for it to the point where all the experts and doctors were the ones that told me that there was no chance,” Watson said. “So I pushed as far as I possibly could to get back out there and just try to play and try to push it towards after the season. But I think the best situation for I guess longevity in my career is to be able to get immediate surgery. That's what all the experts said.”
Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski was unaware Watson was dealing with the shoulder injury during the second half in Baltimore.
“Obviously he's disappointed,” Stefanski said. “He's a competitor, he's a leader of the football team, so it's tough. And we've all been around this game and we've seen guys have season ending injuries and it's no fun for anybody. You feel for those guys. We got guys in the training room right now that are out for the season. We feel for them, but we got a game. We got a game on Sunday, we got a great opportunity in front of us, so we know he's going to go heal up and get better and in the meantime he's going to be supporting his teammates.”
Stefanski wasn't the only one in the dark. Apparently his teammates were too.
“He's a quiet assassin,” receiver Cedric Tillman said. “It's not like he was on a sideline complaining about his injuries. We had no idea, at least me personally, so I didn't know anything until this morning that he got hurt, obviously. So it's just unfortunate.”
The season-ending injury to Watson leaves the Browns in a very difficult position and very exposed not having a sufficient backup quarterback.
Berry, who did not want to revisit the decision to trade Josh Dobbs before the season, plans to add a quarterback “in the near future” to the practice squad or active roster.
Dobbs has taken the NFL by storm after leading the Vikings to back-to-back wins since Arizona traded him at the deadline to Minnesota. Cleveland got a 2024 fifth-round pick from the Cardinals for Dobbs and the Browns reportedly had interest in bringing him back.
“I'm not really focused on that right now,” Berry said. “We do have a lot of confidence in our current QB room. We're 6-3 and focused on this playoff push. We're focused on the Steelers. There'll be a time for reflection for everything over the course of the year, but that's really, really not top of mind right now.”
Watson becomes the third key offensive starter lost for the season due to injury.
Right tackle Jack Conklin suffered a torn ACL in Week 1 and running back Nick Chubb suffered a massive knee injury in Week 2. Chubb underwent a second surgery to repair his ACL on Tuesday.
Watson has played in just 12 games since the Browns sent the Texans six draft picks and gave Watson a fully guaranteed $230 million contract in March of 2022 and he will have to come off yet another lengthly layoff.
“We feel good about Deshaun,” Berry said. “We see how talented he is. We saw, I mean we could see it since he returned from his last injury, the level that he is able to play. He's smart, he's physically tough, he's mentally tough. He really is, as Kevin's mentioned, he's the leader of the team and we're excited to get him back for 2024.”
Watson believes with surgery and rehab that he will return to the dynamic playmaker the Browns traded for.
“I'm very confident in the doctors that’s going to be doing the surgery and the rehab, and I’m very confident in my rehab and my mindset and my determination to get back strong,” Watson said.
In leading the Browns back from a 15-half third quarter deficit Sunday, Watson completed all 14 of his passes in the half for 134 yards with a touchdown. He also ran for 18 yards, including a 16-yard scramble in the final drive to help set up the game-winning field goal, and a two-point conversion.
Watson suffered a strained rotator cuff in the third quarter of a 27-3 win over Tennessee on September 24 that caused him to miss three of the next four games. Watson aggravated the injury in a 39-38 win over the Colts.
Season-ending injuries to franchise quarterbacks are often crushing blows to teams but Berry is confident the Browns will be able to overcome the loss of Watson and not allow it to derail their season.
“We're professionals,” Berry said. “We understand that it's never great to see a player of Deshaun's magnitude suffer a season ending injury. But at the same time, we've been through a lot of stuff as a group and not just a lot of stuff this season, but over the past few years.”
Berry also explained why there’s reason for hope for fans who are devastated by the news Wednesday morning coming off Sunday’s win over the Ravens.
“I think about even most recent history, you think about 2017 with the Eagles where they won a Super Bowl with a backup quarterback, or you even look at San Francisco last year where they got down to their third string quarterback and made it to the NFC Championship game,” Berry said. “So it'll never be about one person. Again, we're devastated. We're disappointed for Deshaun, but we're excited about what lays in front of us because we have an opportunity to finish the job.”