BEREA, Ohio — Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson has been sidelined with a shoulder injury since the Week 3 win over the Titans—the game in which he sustained the injury. He hasn't spoken openly to the media since Sept. 27, just before the news of his shoulder was known.
On Wednesday, Watson broke his silence and addressed the shoulder injury, the uncertainty that has been surrounding his rehab process and his anticipated return to the field.
Watson clarified that the injury, which was known to be a rotator cuff contusion that was limiting his range of motion and ability to put zip on the ball or throw in general, was actually a strain. Watson said he has a "micro-tear" within his rotator cuff muscles.
"It's a strain. It's a strain. It's a micro tear, so it's small. It's basically like getting a cut on the hand, a couple of slashes on the hand of that muscle. And that's what a micro tear strain for the rotator cuff," Watson said.
The injury has caused the quarterback to be extremely limited in practice (on the occasions he's been able to practice). During the first week of the injury leading into the Week 4 match-up with the Ravens, Watson took very few throws, mostly taking mental reps behind rookie backup Dorian Thompson-Robinson.
After coming back from the bye week, Watson did not participate in practice at all, working indoors in a medical rehab process, which has, in some capacity, involved throwing.
"We've been trying to just nick at it each and every day. We got to take some days off because you can't do too much. From what I've experienced and what I've known from the medical staff, it's a tricky deal. So you’ve got to kind of take that baseball approach and talk to some people that deal with rotator cuffs more often. So that's what we've been doing and just really trying to strengthen that muscle and everything around it so we can get back comfortable throwing," Watson said.
He continued, "It's coming along. The arrow's been trending up, so each and every day, we've just been trying to get better and better and try to get as comfortable as possible."
What has kept Watson in the rehab process and away from the football field, as his coaches shared as well, isn't pain. Watson said he can play through pain. The shoulder injury is limiting his ability to throw so much that he feels as if his playing would be a detriment to his team and could cost them his performance if he were to try to play at the level he's been at.
That's not something he's willing to do to his team, he said.
"I'm not going to put the team in jeopardy if I can't do certain things that is going to allow us to be handicapped in certain situations. So that's the reason why I haven't been able to step on the field," Watson said. "It's not so much of the pain. It's mostly if I can throw the football. The pain, I can deal with certain pain tolerance, but if I can't control the football, I can't throw the football with no velocity; if I can't throw the football more than a certain amount of yards, then like I said before, then I don't want to handicap the team because then I can't get the ball downfield and I can't get the ball outside the numbers and things like that."
While Watson shared he believes he's making progress, he also doesn't have a timetable for when he expects to return.
The injury, he said, could take a day to finish healing in a way that allows him to throw correctly. He said it could take two more weeks. There's a lot of unknown still about the injury, but he made it clear that he "can't put a timeline on anything right now."
After speaking to the media, Watson was listed on the pre-practice injury report. Watson will be a non-participant in the first practice of the week leading into the Colts game, continuing his rehab process.
That said, Head Coach Kevin Stefanski said he wouldn't rule Watson out for Sunday at this time. They are still taking it day by day. However, if Watson is unable to play Sunday, Stefanski did clarify that P.J. Walker would get the start at quarterback in Indianapolis.
Being sidelined for a third straight game would be something that frustrates Watson, but with the shoulder injury needing time and being such a waiting game, he aims to continue to help the team however he can.
"It's definitely frustrating. I want to be on the field. We felt like, after the Tennessee game, we were getting the ground running for this offense and then as all three phases," Watson said. "I got to deal with the adversity and just take it as it comes and continue to be a leader as I am and keep helping the guys around me. When that time comes, I can step on the field and go out there and help the team win."
