How Browns QB Deshaun Watson handled his 1st game action since 2024

CHICAGO ― Deshaun Watson had waited more than 660 days to get back out on the field in an NFL game of any kind. A wait that long, the Browns quarterback wasn’t going to quibble over it being a preseason game.

“No, most definitely,” Watson said after the Browns’ 34-10 preseason loss at the Chicago Bears Aug. 15. “It felt good, felt excited just to be back on the field, go through pregame, get warmed up, take the field for the first time in don’t even know how long it has been. It’s definitely a good moment for myself.”

Watson last started, or even played, in a game on Oct. 20, 2024, which would’ve been Week 7 of that season. That’s when he tore his Achilles tendon for the first of two times.

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The 10-year veteran, who was 11-of-15 for 126 yards against Chicago with a fumble and a 98.2 passer rating, returns to the field not knowing whether or not there will be another start in the near future. He’s currently in a camp battle with Shedeur Sanders, who’s scheduled to start Cleveland‘s next preseason game Aug. 22 against the Buffalo Bills.

That game will be the reverse of the opener, where Sanders will start and Watson will play the third quarter. The two will also split the No. 1 reps when they hold a joint practice with the Bills on Aug. 20.

“What I wanted to see was how comfortable he was leading up to the game, how comfortable he was in the huddle,” coach Todd Monken said. “Certainly there were things from a operational standpoint we can do better, but I wanted to see if he was enjoying himself. Was this still fun for him to play through the ups and the downs? Sure, he’s not happy about certain throws that he could have made, a couple of them that would have extended drills. Sure, he’s thrilled about a quarterback sneak that we threw on him there to get a first down. But it was fun watching him play. It was. It was fun.”

Monken helped Watson out by giving the 30-year-old an opportunity to ease into the game. The first series was just three Quinshon Judkins runs, before the second series started with Watson scrambling on a drop-back that was ultimately nullified by a tripping personal foul on right tackle Tytus Howard.

That’s when Watson really started to find his rhtyhm, as he settled into a series of easy completions that moved the ball down the field. He completed his first four passes, before a drop by Harold Fannin Jr. on third down led to a 50-yard Andre Szmyt field goal.

Undeterred, Watson completed his first six passes on the next drive as well, the last an 11-yard completion to rookie KC Concepcion to the Bears‘ 14 on the final play of the first quarter. That made him 8-of-9 for 102 yards in his first quarter of game action in a year-and-a-half.

“I think for any quarterback, not just myself, but anybody that’s starting off the season or even starting a game, the biggest key for a quarterback and receiver is just getting completions,” Watson said. “Seeing the ball get to the receiver’s hands and they catching it and getting positive yards and moving down the field. So it was good.”

Things were a little more harried for Watson in the second quarter, although it started off with Concepcion’s 14-yard end-around run for a touchdown on the first play to give Cleveland a 10-0 lead. He would complete his next two passes, one to Isaiah Bond and the other to Concepcion, to start 10-of-11 for 117 yards.

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The next time Watson dropped back, Bears edge rusher Jarmee Kromah beat right tackle Austin Barber around the edge to strip the quarterback as he was cocking his arm to throw. The Browns would have two more possessions in the half, but he completed just one of his final four passes for nine yards.

That included a chance to run the two-minute drill, which was a goal of Monken’s for Watson in the game. The Browns got the ball with 1:52 remaining in the half at their own 38, but he had to scramble once and threw two incompletions.

“It’s always things to work on,” Watson said. “Just continue to work with the operation, just continue to get in and out the huddle. Just getting back in the groove or just seeing operation, play clock, down and distances, working certain situations, getting down to my checkdowns. But just really just trying to stay positive, getting completions, moving the ball and not taking any negative plays, that’s the key. So there’s a lot more to improve and we have more time in the next couple of weeks to do that.”

Watson wasn’t the only one whose fast start may have lost some steam. Sanders dealt with the same thing after completing three of his four passes on the first Browns possession of the third quarter for 63 yards to get them to the Bears 6, where a fourth-down run was stuffed.

Sanders completed the first pass of his second drive as well to start 4-of-5 for 69 yards before things started to unwind on him. He completed just two of his final six passes over the next drive-and-a-half, including an interception on an overthrow deep early in the fourth quarter to end his day 6-of-11 for 79 yards, the one interception and a 39.6 passer rating.

“Oh no, my feet get wet every day at practice.” Sanders said. “It just felt like another day at practice, honestly, to me. But even this week being on the road, communicating with the quarterback room and just talking ball and everything, I was able to unlock another point of view and be able to see things a little differently. So that’s what I was excited about. And being able to get those different point of views from everybody in the quarterback room that has experience, it was great.”

Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on X at @ceasterlingABJ. Sign up for Browns Insider newsletter at https://profile.beaconjournal.com/newsletters/browns-insider/

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: How Browns QB Deshaun Watson handled his 1st game action since 2024