CLEVELAND — Hey, Browns fans. Some of you could be heard booing Deshaun Watson during your favorite NFL team’s preseason home opener on Saturday, Aug. 22, at Huntington Bank Field.
By the time Watson entered Cleveland’s 31-7 loss to Buffalo to begin the third quarter, an already sparse crowd had become increasingly thin with rain soaking seats, and Bills fans certainly accounted for a good chunk of the people who attended a fake game delayed for 64 minutes because of inclement weather early in the first quarter.
But there were still some boos directed toward Watson. They were detected in person and on the TV broadcast.
Well, this is the stance from the Browns: Forget your feelings.
You’re embarrassed new Browns coach Todd Monken might name Watson the starting quarterback for the Sept. 13 regular-season opener at the Jacksonville Jaguars in the coming days? Forget your feelings.
You’re tired of the Browns trying to salvage the worst trade in NFL history by giving Watson another shot to top the depth chart at the sport’s most important position? Forget your feelings.
You’re yelling it’s illogical to start Watson over second-year Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders because Watson will turn 31 on Sept. 14, has a surgically repaired throwing shoulder along with a twice-surgically repaired right Achilles tendon and therefore doesn’t represent a realistic path toward solidifying the QB position beyond 2026 while the 24-year-old Sanders represents a slight chance? Forget your feelings.
You’re still disgusted the Browns crawled back to Watson’s camp after being rejected in March 2022 and presented “a Godfather offer” with a five-year contract worth a record-setting $230 million fully guaranteed despite Watson being accused of sexual assault or sexual misconduct by more than two dozen women during massage appointments while he played for the Houston Texans? Forget your feelings.
You’re incensed about the same deal costing the Browns three first-round draft picks (2022-24), a third-round choice (2023) and two fourth-round selections (2022 and 2024), hindering the organization’s roster-building capabilities, creating salary-cap challenges and setting the franchise back for at least five years? Forget your feelings.
You’re frustrated about the Browns whiffing when they gambled on Watson being a substantial upgrade over Baker Mayfield who could take Cleveland to its first Super Bowl and silence critics in the process? Forget your feelings.
The Browns have pitted Watson against Sanders this offseason in a QB duel. The competition has been close, though Watson’s stock as the favorite had risen in the two and a half weeks preceding the exhibition game with Buffalo.
Against the Bills, Watson and the offense went three-and-out on their first two possessions, eliciting booing from the crowd. He finished 5-of-12 passing for 35 yards with an interception for a passer rating of 14.6. With three minutes left in the third quarter, Watson’s interception on a high throw prompted more audible disapproval from fans. Another stalled drive on his fourth series yielded more of the same reaction. Watson was relieved by third-string quarterback Dillon Gabriel with 6:49 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Sanders started against the Bills, played for the entire first half and produced a quality outing. He went 9-of-11 passing for 74 yards and a touchdown with an interception on a deflection for a rating of 87.1.
Did anything occur in Cleveland’s joint practice with Buffalo on Thursday, Aug. 20, or in the preseason game between the two teams to significantly shift the momentum toward Sanders in the QB derby? Only Monken and other Browns bigwigs truly know whether they were swayed at all.
Either way, if you’re opposed to Watson starting over Sanders, you ought to brace yourself.
Forget your feelings.
In 2022, the Browns bet you would suppress your feelings of discomfort about the Watson trade once he started leading the team to glory. The club’s attitude has not changed since then, despite a mountain of evidence of failure.
“I think one thing I’ve noticed about fans is if a player plays well, they tend to change and like him, so we’ll see,” Browns owner Jimmy Haslam said on July 31.
With the Texans, Watson made three Pro Bowls. With the Browns, his performance has been inconsistent at best and dreadful most of the time. He is 9-10 as a Browns starter with a completion percentage of 61.2, a rating of 80.7, 19 touchdown passes against 12 interceptions, 465 rushing yards and three TDs on 93 carries, eight lost fumbles and 70 sacks taken.
The preseason game against the Bills was the first time Watson played in Cleveland’s lakefront stadium since Oct. 20, 2024, when he ruptured his right Achilles tendon against the Cincinnati Bengals. Some Browns fans reacted to Watson’s injury nearly two years ago by cheering. In the moment, it was hard to envision him playing for the Browns again. On Aug. 19, Watson said he would not care if Cleveland fans were to boo him when the Browns faced the Bills. Then it happened three days later.
During a fourth-quarter sideline interview on WEWS News 5’s telecast, Sanders said he doesn’t like “whenever the whole stadium is booing” in response to Watson being on the field.
“However you all feel is how you all feel about an individual, about a person, but when somebody’s going out there trying to do their best, then it doesn’t really sit right with me overall,” Sanders said.
Forget your feelings.
The Watson era has yet to mercifully end in Cleveland partly because the Browns still owe him $46 million for 2026 and partly because they’re holding out hope an unmitigated disaster can improve.
Watson started the preseason opener Aug. 15 at the Chicago Bears and went 11-of-15 passing for 126 yards (without a TD or an interception) and posted a rating of 98.2. Then Sanders went 6-of-11 passing for 79 yards with an interception for a rating of 39.6.
Monken clearly came away from the performance with a boost of confidence in Watson.
“It was awesome,” Monken said Aug. 15 after the Browns lost 34-10 to the Bears. “It was so cool to watch him play. I get all of the frustration by fans, himself. But for him to come back and work like he did is an unbelievable credit to him, and then to go out there, he was having fun today. And that is so cool. And I thought he really functioned at a high level.”
Don’t like the thought of Watson starting? The Browns have repeatedly told you it doesn’t matter what you think.
Forget your feelings.
Nate Ulrich is the sports columnist of the Akron Beacon Journal and a sports features writer. Nate can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com. On Twitter: @ByNateUlrich.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Opposed to Deshaun Watson starting? Browns don’t care. Opinion
Reporting by Nate Ulrich, Akron Beacon Journal / Akron Beacon Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Nate Ulrich, Akron Beacon Journal | USA TODAY Network
