BEREA, Ohio — Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson was ruled out of this week's game against the Seahawks before Wednesday's practice. On Thursday, Watson spoke about the roller coaster that has been his return to the field and all of the narratives surrounding the five-week injury.
The quarterback sustained a contusion and strain to the rotator cuff in his throwing shoulder against the Titans in Week 3, and has been "day to day" since. MRI scans have shown there is no structural damage, but swelling to the muscles in the rotator cuff has resided for weeks.
Watson, who made his return to the field after being sidelined for two games with a bye week in between, took just five throws on Sunday against the Colts before being pulled from the game following a hit he took early in the first quarter. Watson worked inside in a medical rehab process after the bye but returned to practice last Thursday ahead of Indy.
The week of practice leading into the game felt able to throw, he said—enough for him to play, at least. It wasn't perfect, though.
"I wouldn't sit here and say I was feeling perfect on Friday. I was pushing through it because I'm a competitor, I felt like I had enough. But at the same time though, you got to realize the reality. The reality and practice is very controlled. Especially Friday—you call it Fast Fridays for a reason. And the fact that you can't put in until you actually go out there is on Sundays and bullets is flying. You got to be able to react and not think about each throw and not know where you're going to throw the ball and how you're going to throw the ball and the velocity, the speed, the tempo, all that stuff. So we got a little taste of it in three or four drives series and yeah, at the end of the day it just wasn't right," Watson said.
This injury that Watson is dealing with is more like a baseball injury that pitchers deal with, Watson said. Watson's recovery time is dependent on how quickly the swelling subsides. Not enough yet, he learned on Sunday.
His return to practice last Thursday began limited, but in his second day back, Friday, Watson was a full participant. The Browns wanted to see how his shoulder responded to the full day of work and if he'd be able to function on the football field for game day.
They thought the answer was yes, and so did Watson. But as the quarterback said, it wasn't until he took the throws at game speed with a pass rush coming at him that he learned the shoulder wasn't where he needed it to be.
"The time limit for rotator cuffs are four to six weeks. I felt during the week that I have the opportunity to play right at that kind of at that three-week, four-week mark, and I just didn't have the strength and things like that to be able to go out there and play a full complete game. So, the medical staff, Kevin, decided to hold me out so I don't do anything worse to it," Watson said. ”I thought I was ready, wasn't ready."
His coaches learned that lesson, too.
"We were hoping. You see the practice on Friday, it was better than Thursday. Two more days of rest, maybe it'll feel a lot better on Sunday. And then he took the hit, and the hit was really for us, it was like, all right, let's put P.J. in there and let him heal up a little more," said offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt. "He didn't look like himself early. He had a throw there that was probably a little short than he usually would throw, so those were some of the things that went into that decision. But hats all, he tried to get back. He did everything he could to be out there and then the hit happened and we just held him after that."
Over the weeks that Watson has been sidelined, the Browns have been adamant that Watson is giving his all to recover and return to the field. His teammates have said how much he wants to be out there. His coaches have said the same. Still, there's been some on the outside questioning Watson's passion for the game, wondering if he had a want to play football anymore with the way the injury is lingering.
That's something Watson wholeheartedly rejected on Thursday when asked about it.
"Why wouldn't I want to play? I just worked my *** off for two years to get back to playing. So why wouldn't I want to play? This is what I've been doing since I was 6 years old, so why wouldn't I want to play?," Watson said, laughing at the thought. "I see the same thing. I see all the narratives, this, that and the third. I mean, all that stuff is just trying to cause controversy and commotion. I'm fine, I'm happy. I'm not happy with the injury, but I'm in a great space mentally. I'm in a great space spiritually. Physically, everything else is in a great space except my shoulder. So we’re working hard to get that back. But yeah, why wouldn't I want to play? I don't do this for no other reason. So yeah, I see that too. I see the whole contract situation and all that stuff. That stuff is just for people to talk and just create a narrative."
Watson called the idea that he wouldn't want to play for the Browns "bull****" and speculation.
The Browns' $230 million dollar quarterback intends to be just that for this team—the resource the organization spent a lot on and is banking on playing at a high level. For now, he's back to rehabbing the shoulder and reevaluating how he's able to throw well enough to be a weapon rather than a barrier for the Browns.
For Watson to return the next time, his shoulder has to be further along in the recovery process than it was against Indy. He won't rush it again. That doesn't mean it has to be 100%, he just needs to be able to help win games, he said.
"I don't think anybody is going to be a hundred percent throughout the year. So regardless if you're healthy or if you're not healthy, once you get to November, December, January football, no one is 100% healthy. So I'm trying to get to a percentage where I can go out there and be very, very beneficial for this team and win a lot of games," Watson said.
That could mean another week without Watson. It could mean less. It could mean more. As Watson aimed to shut down the notion that he doesn't want to be back on the field, he's also learned a lesson in returning too quickly and now is re-embracing the idea of being truly "day to day."
"There's no certain timeline on certain injuries. Some people's bodies react differently. ... So it might be shorter, it might be longer. And that's why I said it could be tomorrow, it could be next week. I don't know. You just have to take it day by day," Watson said.
