![](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,<svg height="440" width="780" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" version="1.1"/>)
Dorian Thompson-Robinson struggled in his first start for the Cleveland Browns, but the team does not expect any shakeups to the depth chart despite their latest blowout loss.
Thompson-Robinson’s number was called against the Baltimore Ravens and he struggled mightily. The fifth-round rookie tossed three interceptions and it very well could have been more. He finished the game 19-of-36 for 121 yards and the Browns fell 28-3.
Despite his struggles, the Browns general manager Andrew Berry backed DTR as the team’s No. 2 quarterback going forward while speaking to the media on Wednesday, October 4.
“I don’t envision any major changes in the room,” Berry said. “There is a saying that I love. It’s, ‘Experience is a hard teacher because it gives the test first and the lesson afterwards.’ And I felt like certainly any rookie quarterback could probably attest during their first start that that is the case. Certainly challenging circumstances, but I know Dorian’s not making any excuses for it. That is the role of the backup, to be able to step in at a moment’s notice.”
Thompson-Robinson took some heat after the loss, but the Browns didn’t do much to support him. The game plan seemed choppy, the run game didn’t produce and he was under pressure a ton.
Still, Thompson-Robinson shouldered the blame after the loss, recognizing he has to be better going forward.
“This organization, this team, everybody from the draft process on up has put their faith into me, especially being the No. 2,” Thompson-Robinson said after the loss on Sunday. “And today was not it. Today is not what the picture of a No. 2 quarterback should look like. … I have to clean up, so I’ll leave it at that.”
Andrew Berry Says It Was ‘Easy’ Decision for Deshaun Watson to Sit
Watson sat out against the Ravens and there have been some questions around the situation, with head coach Kevin Stefanski making it clear the team doctors cleared the quarterback to play. However, Berry noted that it was clear when Watson tested out the shoulder that he would not be effective if he suited up.
“We were optimistic that he would play. He was optimistic that he would play. He worked his tail off during the week to rehab and be ready to go,” Berry said. “When we got out on Sunday and when we took him through the pregame workout, it became obvious to all of us that he couldn’t throw or drive the ball well enough to perform in the game.
“And if he can’t push it, if he can’t drive it, if he can’t throw it down the field, which became very evident early in the workout, it became a very easy decision for us not to put him out there.”
Watson was coming off one of his best games as a member of the Browns, completing a whopping 82% of his passes against the Tennessee Titans — which was the second-best mark of his career — for 289 yards and two touchdowns.
Browns Don’t View Deshaun Watson Injury as Long-Term
The expectation is that Watson will be ready to go when the Browns emerge from their bye week to face the San Francisco 49ers. The team doesn’t see it slowing Watson down and is hoping he can leave it in the past, thanks to a pair of weeks off.
“We don’t view it as a long-term injury,” Berry said. “There’s nothing structural. We are optimistic that it’ll heal in the short term and he’ll be ready to go.”
The Browns entered the season expecting to rely more on Watson and the passing game, and that focus has been amplified by the absence of Nick Chubb, who went down with a season-ending injury in Week 2 against the Pittsburgh Steelers. If the Browns want to contend this season in a very competitive AFC North, they’ll need Watson to be healthy and at his best.
0 Comments