CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – Deshaun Watson still isn’t practicing and when he will play again remains up in the air.
While the saga of Watson’s shoulder injury rolls on, e at least got some clarity from the quarterback about what is going on.
Here’s our top Brownie Bites from Watson and the Browns as Colts week gets underway.
Day-to-day – Like the rest of us, Watson remains day to day, but the quarterback explained specifically what is wrong with his right shoulder. “It's a strain… It's a micro tear,” Watson said. “It's basically like getting a cut on the hand, a couple of slashes on the hand of that muscle, and that's what a micro tear strain for the rotator cuff is.” Watson confirmed that he suffered the injury 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. The extent of the injury wasn’t known until the day before a 28-3 loss to the Ravens that saw rookie Dorian Thompson-Robinson start on short notice. The rotator cuff injury has kept Watson off the field since September 29, when he was extremely limited and did not throw. “It's not so much the pain [that is the problem],” Watson said. “It's mostly if I can throw the football. The pain I can deal with certain pain tolerance, but if I can't control the football, I can't throw the football with no velocity. If I can't throw the football more than a certain amount of yards… I don't want to handicap the team because then I can't get the ball down field and I can't get the ball outside the numbers and things like that.” When Watson will practice or play again remains a mystery. “It can be any day,” Watson said. “It can be tomorrow, it can be Sunday, it can be two weeks from now. I'm not even sure.” Watson did not practice again Wednesday and head coach Kevin Stefanski was as illuminating as Watson was when it comes to the timeline. “I'm just going to say he's making progress,” Stefanski said while not ruling him out for Sunday. “Between Deshaun, our medical team, everybody's on the same page. Understand that we are working through this injury. Like I've told you before, we'll continue to be careful and safe and make sure that when he's ready to do his job and he has all of his ability in terms of being able to throw the football. When he's ready for that, we'll have him back out there at practice but we're going to continue to treat that thing day to day.” Watson wasn't given a timeline but he understands rotator cuff injuries can take up to 4-6 weeks. This is the fourth week. “I'm just making sure I want to do it right so I don't have any problems later on,” Watson said. As for those who qant to question his toughness, Watson had this response. “As long as this locker room and this organization know who I am and what I'm dealing with, then that's all that matters,” Watson said. “All the outside noise, all the other stuff is just they feeding off of what is said on social media and all that stuff isn't real. What is real is in this locker room, and that's all that matters.”
Walk(er) this way – P.J. Walker continues to be the No. 2 QB from the practice squad and he will start again if Watson can’t go Sunday in Indianapolis. “He has to do what all of our backups have to do. You have to be ready to play,” Stefanski said. “And I think we've all seen it over the course of this season. It can go really up and down our roster, and you rely on your backups when the starter can't go. And I think that's what P.J. will be ready to do if called upon.” Walker completed 18 of 34 passes for 192 yards and a pair of interceptions against an Francisco.
Award winner – Kicker Dustin Hopkins was named the AFC Special Teams Player of the Week Wednesday. Hopkins made 4 of 5 field goals in Sunday’s 19-17 upset of the 49ers. After missing his first field goal of the season – from 47 – to begin the afternoon, Hopkins made kicks from 42, 46, 50 and 29 yards plus a PAT. He is the first Browns kicker in franchise history to make field goals from 50 or more yards in four consecutive games.
Bitonio back – Left guard Joel Bitonio returned to practice Wednesday following a bye week knee scope. He was listed as limited but the team. Bitonio’s streak of 102 consecutive games started and over 6,800 consecutive snaps played ended when he was unable to play against the 49ers.
Staying in charge – NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has his contract extended by owners officially on Wednesday. The extension keeps Goodell in charge of the league through March of 2027.
Injury report – DNP: QB Deshaun Watson (right shoulder), TE Harrison Bryant (hip), RB Kareem Hunt (thigh), CB Greg Newsome (hamstring), LB Anthony Walker (concussion), WR Amari Cooper (rest/ankle), DE Myles Garrett (rest), K Dustin Hopkins (personal), DT Dalvin Tomlinson (rest); LIMITED: LG Joel Bitonio (knee); FULL: WR Cedric Tillman (hip)