BEREA, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – Deshaun Watson is questionable for Sunday’s game at Indianapolis but it appears he’s on track to return.
Here’s our top Brownie Bites with all eyes on Watson’s status after he missed the previous two games.
Looks good to go – Watson practiced again Friday, a day after returning to practice for the first time since September 29 and is questionable to play Sunday against the Colts, but all indications seem to be pointing in that direction. “I want to see how he responds over the next 48 hours based on that full workload that he just got,” Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski said. “But he looked good today.” It was Watson’s first full practice since September 22 before he suffered a strained right rotator cuff against Tennessee September 24 that Watson described as having “micro tears” in it. This time, Watson will not be a gametime decision in Indianapolis. The Browns should know Saturday. “We won’t work him out,” Stefanski said. Watson was seen wearing and adjusting KT Tape – a sports therapeutic kinesiology tape designed for pain relief and support of muscles and tendons – on his right shoulder Friday morning but otherwise did not appear limited as he warmed up and ran through drills. “I think he's confident in all the work he's put in,” Stefanski said. “Again, looked good at practice, and then we'll see how he responds from that practice.” Although his status for Sunday has been in doubt, Watson has been preparing as if he is starting. “Every week since I've been out, I'm preparing myself to start,” Watson said on Wednesday. “I do the same stuff I've been doing each and every week. I don't try to do anything different, a little extra time on the treatment side, but outside of that, I'm always preparing like I'm going to play.” Should Watson return, he’ll face a Colts defense that is allowing just over 25 points per game along with nearly 245 yards passing and 114 yards per game on the ground but has eight takeaways in six games. “I'm used to that team,” Watson said, referring to his time with the Texans. “I know it's a different defensive coordinator, but just playing in Indy is difficult. The crowd's going to be into it, the defense creates turnovers, the defense is very, they feed off the energy of that stadium and it's a great place to play, great environment. So they're led by that linebacker group and upfront, and I know they're young in the secondary, but those guys are going to come and be ready for the challenge.” P.J. Walker remains the No. 2 QB this week and will start if Watson can’t or back him up meaning he’ll be elevated for a third time from the practice squad and force a roster move to be made after the game.
Road warriors – The Browns will play seven of their final 12 away from home where historically have struggled. “Got to go on the road, got to win,” defensive end Myles Garrett said. “That's what good teams do. And got to stack them.” Since the start of the 2021 season, they are 5-12 on the road and 13-9 at home. Overall under Stefanski, the Browns have gone 19-11 at home but are 10-15 when traveling. “We love the challenge of playing on the road. The whole crowd is against you,” Stefanski said. “I know our Browns crowd travels well, so we expect to see quite a bit of orange in that crowd, but you love going into those environments. It's great as a competitor to be in those environments. Now, there's also things from an operational standpoint that you have to be on top of, particularly when you're on offense. You have to be great in the huddle. You have to be great at the line of scrimmage with the snap count likely on the silent count. You really have to have a good road operation. And those are the type of things that are a challenge when you're on the road.” To become the team they are expected to be, the Browns are going to have to quiet some crowds as visitors. “It all comes down to the same thing, blocking, tackling, execution of the plays,” receiver Amari Cooper said. “It's really no different. I mean, there's a different element to it, playing on the road with the crowd noise and everything like that, but at the end of the day, you have to block all that out and just play football.” Crowd noise is a factor for the offense which is why Stefanski practices with it during the week. “You have silent counts, you have communication, you have the fans against you, and right now we're just focused on ourselves and trying to do that,” left guard Joel Bitonio said. “But coach has stressed it. We want to be road warriors, we want to stack wins. We want to really develop that. We don't want to go on this rollercoaster of a season, so it's a big week for us.”
Secret to success – The haters have been pretty quiet since the Browns defense dominated the 49ers last week. The numbers through five games have been historic with Jim Schwartz in charge. So what’s the secret to their success? “We hold guys accountable. We don't allow mediocrity, and that's what Schwarz instilled in us,” cornerback Greg Newsome II said. “We don't care about any outside noise. We know we're getting a bunch of praise, but everybody knows that you see new stats about us every single week. But we honestly don't care about that. We just care about making sure that we all stay together, stay as a tight-knit group and just support each other through everything.” Newsome has found Schwartz’s coaching style refreshing and it seems to have rejuvenated him. “I feel like I was always a high energy guy, but honestly just doing some self-evaluation on myself, I feel like when I bring a lot of energy all the time that guys feed off of it,” Newsome said. “So I feel like this year, that's one of my roles honestly on the defense. Me, JOK, Ogbo, Za’Darius, honestly, I feel like we're the core energy guys. So every single time we're going to try to bring that energy and I think it helps the group out for sure.” On Thursday, defensive tackle Dalvin Tomlinson mentioned this is one of the closest defensive teams he has been part of. Friday, Garrett took it a step further. “I'll say that is the closest defense I've been a part of,” Garrett said. “It's been a pleasure to be amongst these guys and I only want to make it an even more special defensive year and continue to win and continue to endure. Balling out.”
Stack ‘em – Since putting together a pair of four-game win streaks during the 2020 season that saw the Browns win 11 games, Cleveland is just 3-12 after winning a game since the start of the 2021 season. Their longest win streak is three, and that was from September 19- October 3 of 2021. Last year they won back-to-back games just once and have continued the win one, lose one roller coaster this year.
Injury report – OUT: LB Sione Takitaki (hamstring); QUESTIONABLE: QB Deshaun Watson (right shoulder), TE Harrison Bryant (hip), RB Kareem Hunt (thigh), CB Greg Newsome (hamstring); EXPECTED TO PLAY: LB Anthony Walker (concussion), WR Amari Cooper (rest/ankle), LG Joel Bitonio (knee), WR Cedric Tillman (hip)