BEREA, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – The circumstances surrounding how the Browns handled Deshaun Watson’s right shoulder injury leading up to Sunday’s 28-3 shellacking from the Ravens remains top of mind.
Tuesday morning, Browns executive vice president of football operations Andrew Berry answered nearly a dozen questions about what led to Watson watching from the sideline and rookie backup Dorian Thompson-Robinson being thrown into the fire.
“We were optimistic that he would play. He was optimistic that he would play,” Berry said. “He worked his tail off during the week to rehab and be ready to go when we got out on Sunday and when we took him through the pregame workout, it became obvious to all of us that he couldn't throw or drive the ball well enough to perform in the game.
“If he can't push it, if he can't drive it, if he can't throw it down the field, which became very evident early in the workout, it became a very easy decision for us not to put him out there.”
Watson suffered a bruise to a muscle in his right shoulder with around 6 minutes to play in the third quarter of a 27-3 win over the Titans on a 10-yard run when Titans safety Amani Hooker hit him in the right shoulder.
“We don't view it as a long-term injury,” Berry said. “There's nothing structural. We are optimistic that it'll heal in the short term, and he'll be ready to go.”
Watson insisted to teammates and the organization that he was going to play despite being unable to throw with any volume or intensity in practice all week. Essentially, Watson unintentionally left everyone hanging out to dry.
“He was truly doing everything in his power to play,” Berry said. “We were all optimistic because he made a ton of progress throughout the week going from really not being able to raise his arm to where he was on Sunday and he is super competitive. This is a guy who what bust 12 hours so he could play with a punctured lung as a starting quarterback. So there's no doubt in terms of his resolve or his toughness or his desire to be on the field with his teammates, and honestly I want guys who are wired that way.”
As for Thompson-Robinson, the Browns learned the hard way that trading Josh Dobbs to the Cardinals for a 2024 fifth-round pick might not have been the smartest move considering the contact Watson draws weekly and the Browns history of having just three seasons in the last 25 where the starter played every week.
“Obviously we had a high opinion of Josh,” Berry said. “I've often talked up here about the general manager's role having a foot in the present and a foot in the future, and certainly that consideration and that transaction has elements of that thought it was the best decision. We were really excited to work with Dorian and see him progress and develop, but thought was the right move for the organization, both short and long term.”
Thompson-Robinson struggled mightily and looked ill prepared to play. He completed 19-of-35 passes for 121 yards with three interceptions.
“There is a saying that I love where it's experience is a hard teacher because it gives the test first and the lesson afterwards, and I felt like certainly any rookie quarterback could probably attest during their first start that that is the case,” Berry said. “Certainly challenging circumstances, but I know Dorian's not making any excuses for it. That is the role of the backup to be able to step in at a moment's notice. I think just realistically when you lose a game 28-3 and you don't play well on offense, we all look at what we could have done differently to support him, but we will continue to work, we will grow from it, we learn from it and we will move forward with them.”
With Nick Chubb lost for the season, the pressure is on the Browns’ $230 million quarterback to carry the offense.
“There's always pressure or spotlight on any starting quarterback across the league,” Berry said. “We don't look at it as that Deshaun has to carry the offense. We feel like there's plenty of support. We have a good O-line, we have backs that play well in a role. Amari [Cooper] and David [Njoku] are feature pass catchers and then obviously with Elijah [Moore], Donovan [Peoples-Jones], Marquis [Goodwin], we have enough players to lighten the load, but obviously your quarterback's a big piece of it and we think he's super talented and obviously he can do a lot of things for us, but we feel like we're going to be good on offense.”