Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson, in his first full season as the team’s starter, has gotten off to a bad start. His numbers are not good; his passer rating is south of 70, with two touchdown passes, two interceptions, 5.64 yards per attempt, and 4.91 air yards per attempt.
He also looks sluggish when he tries to elude tacklers. He no longer weaves through and around traffic the way he did during his first four seasons. That will keep him from becoming a franchise quarterback once again, if it continues.
As a result, he’s getting criticized. Meeting with reporters on Thursday, he addressed whether he notices the scrutiny.
“It’s impossible not to see it unless I just turn off my phone completely, you know, turn off the TV completely,” Watson said. “But, you know, it comes with the territory. It comes with the status and the standard that people hold me to. So, you know, I don’t look at it as anything bad. I don’t look at it as anything personal. It’s part of the game, it’s part of my level. And it’s part of — you know, I look at is as people hold me to this standard. So I feel like, you know, make sure I play to that standard and if I’m not then I have to continue to find ways to get better. So, you know, I don’t take it personal. I don’t get in my feelings about it. I just continue to keep growing and keep learning and keep working each and every day.”
That’s a mature and responsible response. It doesn’t mesh, however, with anecdotal evidence of Watson launching a Big Ben/Derek Carr-style block party on Twitter.
I noticed various people mentioning on Twitter that they had been blocked by Watson. I got curious. So I checked. As it turns out, Watson blocked the PFT account at some point. I don’t know when or why. But he apparently took something personal, even though it wasn’t intended to be.
The reality for Watson is that he’s still dealing with the aftermath of the events that resulted in more than 20 lawsuits and an 11-game suspension. And he didn’t play for all of 2021 and most of 2022. For some reason, he’s not yet the player he once was.
That’s not criticism. It’s reality. Can he get better? Yes, in theory. But something is currently off. Regardless of how reasonable he seems to be when talking to reporters about it, he was clearly frustrated on Monday night.
The good news for Watson is that his contract is fully guaranteed through 2026. If it wasn’t, he’d be in danger of being released after the current season — if things don’t turn around.