BEREA, Ohio — Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson returned to practice Wednesday afternoon for the first time since the regular season began, ramping up activity as his suspension nears an end and his return to game action draws near.
Watson has been serving an 11-game suspension handed down by the NFL for violating the league's Personal Conduct Policy after dozens of allegations against him from massage therapists in Houston, Texas, who've accused him of a range of sexual misconduct in sessions he scheduled via Instagram. The quarterback returned to the facilities on Oct. 10 and has been involved in meetings and training but has been required to stay away from practice sessions, was in his first walkthrough Wednesday morning followed by a full-go at practice.
Head coach Kevin Stefanski wouldn't go into detail about the team's plan of ramping Watson back up while also keeping quarterback Jacoby Brissett ready for what will expectedly be his last two games as the starter.
“Obviously, as you guys know, Deshaun can practice today. He was able to be a part of the walkthrough for the first time this morning. I'm not going to get into the specifics of what reps he is getting, what Jacoby is getting and what Josh Dobbs is getting. We really don’t do that for any of the guys. It's going to be good to have him out there at practice with his teammates," Stefanski said.
Watson spent Wednesday's open portion of practice working through individual drills, drills with tight ends and then drills with the wide receivers. His connection with David Bell and Anthony Schwartz quickly reignited from what he was able to create this offseason.
As for Brissett, he got the same amount of work in during the open portion as in past weeks. While that will likely start to change as the Browns incorporate Watson into first-team reps soon, right now, the Browns have their priority set on Brissett being fully prepared for Sunday's game against the Buffalo Bills.
"Jacoby is starting. He's going to put everything he has into this game like he does each week. His preparation is not changing. My preparation with him is not changing. It's just a matter of finding the right amount, and that's something that we just have to work through," Stefanski said. "What's important is that we do everything we can to find a way to get a win versus Buffalo. That's where the players’ focus is.”
Brissett said that his focus is exactly where Stefanski hopes it is—on Buffalo—and while he's excited to have Watson back, isn't concerning himself with how he makes his way back into the mix as far as reps go.
"That’s not my job to balance it. It’s the coach’s job to balance how he splits things up and stuff like that. I just have to go out there and prepare like I always prepare. Do my job and then control what I can control. That’s something I can’t control and I’m honestly not trying to," Brissett said. "We’ve talked about a lot of things going into practice about how things will be split up and I feel confident that I’ll be more than fine going into the game.”
Making this transition could pose to cause awkward tension within the locker room as a changing of the guards begins to take place. That, however, is not something that their teammates believe will be a problem.
"Won't be awkward at all. Jacoby's our quarterback. He has been since the beginning of the season. So it won't be awkward at all. But we're also excited to see Deshaun come out and get some reps and see how he's doing," said running back Nick Chubb.
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