BEREA, Ohio — The Browns are moving forward with Deshaun Watson under center despite a new lawsuit filed against him alleging another encounter with a woman in Houston in 2020 ending in sexual assault—and Watson is focusing on football throughout his latest lawsuit.
According to the lawsuit, the woman, identified only as "Jane Doe," said she met Watson in a bar while he played for the Houston Texans. She said she and the quarterback exchanged text messages for several months.
The lawsuit alleges that in October 2020, Watson came to the woman's apartment for dinner. That's when the woman said Watson took off his clothes, laid naked on her bed and "aggressively insisted that she massage him." According to the court filing, the woman rubbed his back, but then Watson grabbed her and sexually assaulted the woman.
RELATED: Deshaun Watson accused of sexually assaulting woman in new lawsuit
After news of the new lawsuit surfaced, the NFL released a statement to News 5 saying the league is "reviewing the complaint and will look into the matter under the Personal Conduct Policy." The league is not currently looking at the Commissioner’s Exempt list, which is "a special player status available to clubs only in unusual circumstances," for Deshaun Watson since they have just started the review, and there have been no formal charges against him.
On Tuesday, the Browns released a statement regarding the situation that read:
“We will respect the due process our legal system affords regarding the recently filed civil suit and follow the NFL’s guidelines on this matter.”
Back at the practice facilities Wednesday to prepare for their Week 2 game in Jacksonville against the Jaguars, the Browns addressed the new allegations against Watson.
Head coach Kevin Stefanski opened his press conference by referring back to the team's initial statement.
"Regarding Deshaun's legal situation, we put out a statement yesterday. I won't have much to add past that statement. We'll let due process play out and follow the NFL'S guidelines," he began.
Stefanski said that the team is moving forward with Watson as their starting quarterback as the process plays out, and they have not considered benching him amid his new legal troubles. He did, however, say they he did not know about the new allegations before they were released.
"I was not aware of the allegations," Stefanski said.
Apparently, Watson was not aware either. Watson spoke to the media on Wednesday as well and said that he found out about the newest lawsuit when everyone else did.
"I found out this allegation and this file exactly when everyone else found out. Found out through media, saw it popped up on my phone and then I called my attorneys and asked them what it was," Watson said.
He also said that the statement sent out by his lawyer, Rusty Hardin, represented his stance on the matter.
"The statement is the response that we talked about and everything that he put in that statement is exactly how I'm feeling and what we're going through this process with," Watson said.
Hardin's statement read:
“Deshaun strongly denies the allegations in the Jane Doe lawsuit filed Monday.
We have asked him not to comment further while this matter works its way through the courts, but are comfortable he will ultimately be vindicated.
We will be ready to defend this case in court at the appropriate time, but don’t intend to conduct our defense in the media. We would ask that people be patient while the legal process runs its course.
In the meantime, Deshaun is going to focus his energy and concentration on football.”
Watson said he hasn't thought about the potential of being suspended again, instead worried about preparing to play this week and beyond.
"I haven't had any thought, honestly. My focus is again is just figuring out Jacksonville's plan on defense and focusing on my craft to be the best quarterback I can be on Sunday for this team. That's something that the NFL has to do on their time and I have to focus on what's in front of me right now," Watson said.
However, Watson did admit playing is important to him. After missing 11 games due to suspension for the initial 24 lawsuits against him of similar nature during his time with the Texans and then missing most of the season last year with a shoulder injury, Watson said being available to the team is crucial.
"I mean it's very important. Availability is the biggest, is one of the biggest things. You got to be available for your teammates to be out there to go help win. So again, I have to focus on what today brings and today is Wednesday and getting ready for these meetings and for this practice and we have to see what happens," Watson said.
While the Browns have decided to move ahead with Watson playing, that ultimately may not be up to him or the team. With the NFL's investigation underway, led by Lisa Friel, NFL Special Counsel for Investigations, who led the first investigation into Watson that led to the 11-game suspension, action may be taken if it's determined he violated the Personal Conduct Policy in a way not included under the previous terms of his suspension.
Watson missing time because of the latest allegations against him remains to be seen, but for now he and the Browns are focused on football with Watson at QB. Watson said he feels the support of his team and teammates, who be believes know his "character."
"They know my character. They see me each and every day. They know exactly who I am and I think that's the difference—when you're around me each and every day you know my aura, you know my energy, you know my character. I think you'll understand who I really am," Watson said.
The latest allegations have appeared to many of the remaining fans who were supportive of Watson through the first round of sexual assault allegations. His performance on Sunday didn't help much, either.
But for the Browns quarterback, who was asked why fans and the organization should believe his innocence, his focus is proving himself to his team first.
"I can't speak for the fans, I can't speak for anybody outside this building, but I know that hearing from the Haslams [owners Jimmy and Dee] and AB [general manager Andrew Berry] and those guys, I know that they tell me each and every day that they support me and they got my back and that they want me to focus on being the best quarterback I can be. So that's all I can do is just speak my truth, tell them the truth," Watson said. "They talk with my legal team and everyone that was a part of this whole process and they have to make their decision. And that decision was to give me the opportunity to come be their franchise quarterback to help this team win."
