BEREA, Ohio — When Deshaun Watson went down on the field in Week 7 against the Cincinnati Bengals with a season-ending Achilles injury, questions began to arise about the future of his football career and his time playing in Cleveland.
In the last three seasons, Watson has been widely unavailable. First, with an 11-game suspension stemming from violating the league's personal conduct policy after dozens of allegations of sexual misconduct were filed against him. Then, it was a season-ending shoulder injury that saw him miss 11 games last season. Now, it's an Achilles injury after he played in just seven games this season.
The latest injury is one that isn't easy to recover from. It takes between four and six months to fully heal from a torn or ruptured Achilles tendon, according to the Cleveland Clinic. For players who are able to return to play at the professional level after such an injury, the average time to return to play is 11 months, according to research published by the National Institutes of Health.
That average timeline would mean if Watson could return to play next year, he'd likely miss the first several games of the 2025 season, perhaps more.
Right now, the Browns aren't ready to discuss plans that far ahead. They want to simply focus on Watson's recovery, as general manager Andrew Berry said during his media availability Wednesday during the team's bye.
“Really our focus with Deshaun, I would say for any player with a season-ending injury and a major injury, is first and foremost with the recovery, and to make sure that he gets healthy from the Achilles injury. Everything else we'll deal with at a later moment," Berry said.
Berry would not reflect on the trade for Watson in 2022, which saw the team send six draft picks to the Houston Texans to acquire the quarterback and ink him to a $230 million guaranteed contract to have him waive his no-trade clause and sign with the Browns.
The decision, a controversial one around the league and fan base for several reasons, including Watson's off-field issues and the magnitude of the contract, was one Berry attributed to the entire organization—himself, his front office and staff, and the ownership of Dee and Jimmy Haslam alike. He also acknowledged the move may have been unpopular, but it was one they felt was in the best interest of the franchise—at least at the time.
"Like we've always said, all of us were on board. Everyone was on board and obviously, with a big commitment in that regard, that's always going to be the case," Berry said. “So first and foremost, we love our fans. We know that they're passionate and they love the team. As we make decisions organizationally, it'll always be within what we think is within the best interest of the franchise, and some of those will be popular, some of those will be unpopular, but that's really the way that we'll navigate it.”
Watson had surgery on October 25 to repair the ruptured Achilles. His recovery and rehab are underway. The Browns aren't ready to give a timeline for a potential return for Watson, citing how early into the injury it is.
But they do, at this point, believe there is the potential for Watson to return to play more football in orange and brown.
"Yeah, I think that's always possible," Berry said.
Time will tell. But for now, the Browns are moving forward with the quarterbacks they have in the room currently as they look to clean things up and improve their abysmal 2-7 record coming out of the bye.
"I would say that we have a lot of confidence in the players that are in the quarterback room and in the backup quarterback position. Obviously Jameis [Winston] played real well against Baltimore, had some struggles here against the Chargers, but we do have a lot of confidence in those guys in the number two seat.”
