Deshaun Watson Breaks Silence After Return to Browns

Deshaun Watson is back in the Cleveland Browns‘ facility following surgery and rehab on the West Coast.

Watson was ruled out for the season on November 15. He had surgery at the end of November to repair a displaced fracture to the glenoid in his right shoulder, per a release from the team.

He’s been in Los Angeles for more than a month rehabbing his shoulder following the surgery. Watson attended the Browns’ matchup with the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium but has had limited contact with the team as of late.

In his absence, the Browns have been able to 3-2, with Joe Flacco passing for 300 yards the last two weeks in a pair of victories. It hasn’t been easy for Watson to watch his team from afar but he’s doing what he can to show support.

“It’s always tough to be away from your teammates and the game of football,” Watson said on Saturday, December 23. “I worked so hard to be a part of it. At the same time, injuries happen and you deal with the outcome that comes with it. I’m just very supportive and the guys got to keep rolling.”

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Deshaun Watson Expected to be Ready for Start of Next Season

Watson returned to Cleveland this week for his “Christmas Around the World” holiday party, which includes local organizations he’s worked with, per Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com. He won’t be heading to Houston with the team this week for their Week 16 matchup. He’ll stick around for some practices next week prior to the Browns taking on the New York Jets on Thursday Night Football.

“(Been) staying in touch with him all week,” Browns skipper Kevin Stefanski said Friday, December 22. “Excited that he’s going to be back in the building next week with us. He’s living and dying from L.A., watching us play, but he’s supporting his teammates every day. So [it will] be good to have him back in person.”

Watson said he’s on track with his rehab and is expected to be ready for the start of next season.

“It’s really just staying focused on the task at hand each and every week,” Watson said.

The Browns went 5-1 with Watson as the starting quarterback this season. He completed 61.4% of his passes for 1,115 yards, seven touchdowns and four interceptions in those games.

Through two seasons, Watson will have appeared in just 12 games for Cleveland. He missed all but one quarter of play during a four-game stretch earlier this season with a rotator cuff strain. He also served an 11-game suspension last season after a settlement with the NFL over violating the league’s personal conduct policy.

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Browns Focused on Staying in the Moment

The Browns are in prime position to get very close to locking up a playoff spot this week. Cleveland is 9-5 and NFL.com projects that the Browns will have a 99% chance of making the playoffs with a win against the Texans on Sunday.

But the 38-year-old Flacco isn’t letting the team get ahead of themselves.

“I think there’s some confidence that is going to be the direction, but it really just takes us being in the moment and coming in here and doing our work and all those things and then actually going out on game day and coming through,” Flacco said on Wednesday, December 20. “So I think what we’ve done so far I think can give us the confidence to feel that’s the way it should go, but it’s still up to us to kind of, like I said, stay in the moment, look at what’s important now and go do the job.”

The Browns are a 2.5-point road favorite against the Texans, who will be starting backup quarterback Case Keenum.

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