Deshaun Watson had a rough game on the field and an even rougher one in the stands. He completed 5 of 12 passes for 36 yards and threw an interception in relief of Shedeur Sanders as they compete for the starting job. As the Cleveland Browns lost 31-7 to the visiting Buffalo Bills on Saturday, fans booed Watson repeatedly in the second half, the first time he had played at home since tearing his Achilles tendon in October 2024, an injury some fans cheered at the time.
Insider Albert Breer had a take about Watson’s future in Cleveland:
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“I went into yesterday pretty certain that Deshaun Watson was going to be the Browns starter. Now I’m not sure he’s going to be on the team. That press conference is going to be difficult to come back from. We’ll see how the decision-makers reckon with it,” Breer wrote on X on Sunday.
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Deshaun Watson didn’t hold back when describing how that fan treatment felt.
“It has nothing to do about the performance,” Watson said.
“It’s a little bit personal. I think that’s a disrespectful thing. I’m going to keep whatever I feel with me and my family internally on how I feel about that. Just move on.
“Last time I played on this field, I tore my Achilles, and that same fanbase, they cheered when I got hurt. So, what does that have to do with anything about performance? When a person gets hurt, especially for your own city, and they cheer?”
The quarterback added that he feels a disconnect between how he’s treated publicly and how he’s treated at the stadium or on social media, where fans can vent without any response from players. He suggested the road might be a more comfortable place for him this season:
“I feel like I get more love in road games than I do home games. So, if it is my spot, and he does make me the (starter), maybe it’s 17 away games then.”
Browns coach Todd Monken has not named a starter for Cleveland’s Sept. 13 season opener at the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The costly Deshaun Watson experiment under scrutiny
The Browns traded three first-round picks to the Houston Texans for Deshaun Watson in 2022 and signed him to a fully guaranteed $230 million contract. The NFL suspended him for 11 games that season following an investigation into sexual assault allegations from dozens of women. He was never criminally charged.
Watson has thrown 19 touchdowns against 12 interceptions across four injury- and suspension-shortened seasons. The Browns have reached the postseason only once in that stretch, a game Watson missed and Cleveland lost.
Edited by Joseph Schiefelbein