Deshaun Watson has been away from the gridiron since Week 3, putting the Browns in a precarious position. The QB suffered a shoulder injury, and while he tried to come back in week 7, he left in the middle of the game after a possible head injury. His absence had some critics raise some questions about his willingness to play.
Watson has played four games this season and has led the Cleveland Browns to a 3-1 record in games he’s played. However, his absence has cast aspersions on his motives. Watson has addressed those comments, but Dan Patrick on his show refused to believe the QB and raised doubts about Watson’s willingness to perform.
Deshaun Watson Deliberately Sitting Out?
Deshaun Watson hasn’t been worth what the Cleveland Browns paid for him thus far. The narrative spun around his absence has called into question his commitment to the team and the game. Watson denied such claims following his second exit in Week 7,
“I don’t know … I thought I was ready, I wasn’t ready. Why wouldn’t I want to play? I just worked my a– off for two years to get back and play.”
But Dan Patrick isn’t buying it. He took to the ‘Dan Patrick Show’ to talk about Watson’s absence in Week 8. He addressed the QB’s comments and called him out saying,
“You chose not to play when you were with the Texans. He was medically cleared, chose not to play, Texans didn’t play him, NFL didn’t mind that he didn’t play. So, there’s a history there…Deshaun Watson, are you medically cleared? You are…This was created because his coach made it seem like Deshaun Watson just didn’t want to play.”
Watson was apparently cleared by the medical team earlier in October to play but he chose to sit out as he felt he couldn’t play at the level that was expected of him. He did some practice throws and just didn’t feel right. The team has since maintained that Watson’s desire to play has never been in question. Talking of the decision to let him sit out Week 8 too, HC Kevin Stefanski said,
“He’s trying like crazy. This is not for lack of effort. He’s making every effort he can to be out there, but with the hit he took and with the swelling, it makes the most sense to focus on rehab this week. He’ll be out there as soon as he’s ready.”
Cleveland Brown’s QB is Sick of the Narrative
As highlighted by Dan Patrick, Deshaun Watson did sit out the season with the Texans. However, he sat out because of internal conflicts with the management and had expressed the desire to be traded, which was shot down. The situation in Cleveland seems to be different. Addressing all the allegations being thrown up against him, Watson said,
“I see the same things — I see all the narratives, this, that and the third. All that stuff is just trying to cause controversy and commotion. I’m fine. I’m happy. I’m not happy with the injury. I’m in a great space mentally, I’m in a great space spiritually. Physically, everything else is in a great space but my shoulder, so we’re working hard to get that back.”
Watson didn’t play against the Ravens because he didn’t feel fully fit. In the following weeks, he tried playing and tested his shoulder, but the discomfort and inconsistent peak velocity made it challenging for him to perform at his best, which would’ve led to him to not perform well and perhaps even being a weak link for his team.
