Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson made his first game appearance since October of 2024, and it certainly looked like he hadn't played in nearly two years. Watson struggled from the start, with ball security issues and a lack of offensive control. The 34-10 loss to the Jaguars saw Watson complete 73% of his passes for 205 yards, but he also threw a pick, fumbled and took five sacks.
Watson beat out Shedeur Sanders this offseason, and ultimately, the $230 million player earned the starting job. The decision fell under heavy scrutiny before the regular season started. While Monken came to Watson's defense after the loss, it was not the strongest endorsement for Week 2 or beyond.
"It wasn't all him, it really wasn't all him, I mean, that's unfair," Monken said after his head-coaching debut. "Certainly could've called it better, certainly could've played better around him. Certainly there's plays I'm sure he wish he had back ... we're not where we want to be ...
It's not good enough, but it's just one and we got the right guys to fix it." When asked whether Watson would be the starter for next week's game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Monken said he needed to watch the tape and would "evaluate everything." "It's unfair for me to comment on any one given player because it's never as bad as you think and it's usually never as good as you think," he said. "It's hard to say that right now, because we didn't play very well, we really didn't." Monken kept repeating that the team as a whole needs to improve and that they will all come back tomorrow to address the film and move forward to the Buccaneers. "I'm disappointed, but I'm fired up to get back to work," he said.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
