Getty Quarterback Deshaun Watson of the Cleveland Browns.
The Cleveland Browns are celebrating one of the biggest regular-season victories in franchise history, but a malodorous scent emanating from “The Land” over the past couple of weeks continues to grow more pungent.
In question is the status of starting QB Deshaun Watson’s shoulder and the reports surrounding his potential return. Bill Simmons spoke to Cousin Sal about the narrative around Watson’s injury — and its conflicting/missing pieces — during the Sunday, October 15 edition of The Bill Simmons Podcast.
We didn’t realize when we were doing the pod last week that [Dorian Thompson-Robinson] didn’t know he was playing until two and a half hours before the game. This Watson story is bizarre. They clear him to play two weeks ago. He ends up deciding he’s not gonna play. They have a bye week coming up … and we talked two weeks ago about, “Oh well, you know, maybe they’re just trying to be careful.” And now he doesn’t play again.
My s*** detector is going off with the Deshaun story, and I think yours is, too. Something doesn’t add up, and I don’t know what the real story is but I don’t think we’re hearing it. And I fully expect [sometime in the next week] some sort of something to come out where it’s like, “Oh, actually this is what’s going on.” And I don’t know what it is … [but] if they cleared him to play two weeks ago and he’s still hurt, then that means their doctors are terrible. So, something doesn’t add up with this.
Browns Can’t Sustain Winning for Long with P.J. Walker at QB
GettyEdge rusher Randy Gregory of the San Francisco 49ers sacks quarterback P.J. Walker of the Cleveland Browns during an NFL game in October 2023.
Franchises withholding information to gain a competitive advantage or to mask internal conflict is hardly a new phenomenon in the NFL. As such, the biggest concern isn’t necessarily why conflicting reports of Watson’s health are circulating, but what it ultimately means for his availability to a Browns offense that clearly needs him under center.
Cleveland eked past the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday by a score of 19-17 because kicker Jake Moody missed a 41-yard field goal as time expired. The Browns defense was phenomenal all day, as it has been all year, but former third-string quarterback P.J. Walker struggled mightily.
Walker finished the day 18-of-34 for 192 yards and 2 interceptions. He struggled in part because of poor weather conditions and in part because he was taking on one of the league’s premier defenses. But Walker is still a player who brought a career TD/INT ratio of 5 touchdowns and 11 interceptions with him to Cleveland.
The Chicago Bears ate more than $2 million to cut Walker in August in favor of undrafted rookie Tyson Bagent and career journeyman Nathan Peterman. That type of move by one of the NFL’s worst teams doesn’t speak highly of Walker’s long-term prospects for success in a Browns uniform.
Cleveland travels for difficult road contests in three of the next four weeks, including against the Indianapolis Colts (October 22), Seattle Seahawks (October 29) and Baltimore Ravens (November 12). The next month will be crucial to the Browns’ playoff chances, and the team needs a more dependable quarterback than Walker to feel confident about its future.
Deshaun Watson Indicates He Will Play Again for Browns ‘Soon’
GettyCleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson is questionable for Sunday’s matchup against the Ravens.
For Watson’s part, he is sending the message that he will be back on the field sooner than later.
“See you soon! 💯,” Watson posted to social media Sunday after the Browns defeated the 49ers.
Watson’s sentiment fell in line with reporting from ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Saturday, in which he cited sources who said Watson could return for Cleveland’s game against the Colts. The day before, however, Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com reported that sources told her Watson may miss multiple more weeks.
The QB didn’t practice at all during the week leading up to his team’s win over San Francisco. Cousin Sal pointed out to Simmons Sunday that it is exceedingly rare for a report like Schefter’s to come out saying a player will play the following week after he couldn’t get on the practice field even once the week prior.
Thus, as it has been with Watson’s health for nearly the entirety of the last month, only time will tell.