Berea – The Browns’ season ended about an hour long when Deshaun Watson explained what his top priorities were.
“I’ll just go over there and meet (coach) Kevin (Stefanski) and we’ll sit and watch the tape,” Watson said after the season finale in Pittsburgh. “What can we do? What’s the plan? What do I like, what does he like?”
No two people on the Browns’ coaching staff or players need to be on the same page this season more than Watson and Stefanski. This is because these two hold the keys to the future of crime.
The last six games of the Browns’ 7-10 season were all about re-acclimatizing Watson to the game after he missed the first 11 games due to a suspension for more than two dozen accusations of sexual misconduct and sexual assault during massage appointments while he was still the quarterback for the Houston Texans. On top of that, he had to learn a whole new system after he was traded by the Texans to the Browns this past March.
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This period of readjustment ended with a loss for the Steelers. The process of getting the quarterback and coach on the same page now and in the future began with Monday’s exit interviews.
“We’ll have a man-to-man conversation, nothing negative or anything like that,” Watson said on Monday. “But what we can do to be better offensively. And as a team, my next step in taking over this team and taking on that leadership role is to really step up there and take that whole locker room under my wing. I’m really looking forward to that. This has been kind of a tough year with Being in the building, being outside the building, all the different changes and all the unknowns. But going into the 2023 season and having a very clear view of what we can look forward to, I think I can get the opportunity and that’s the role I want to make sure I challenge myself and take charge.” .
There’s almost no doubt that the offense the Browns have run through their last six games will look different when next season begins in September. Undoubtedly, while he still has a heavy dose of running back Nick Chubb, he’ll feature plenty of Watson.
The way Watson has been used in the last six matches doesn’t give much of a clue as to what it looks like in the end. There were flashes, very brief glimpses of the potential — see Washington’s second half — that she held.
However, the whole package of that crime is something both Watson and Stefanski are eager to explore. That’s why the two of them have already started those conversations.
“You always want your quarterback to be involved in high-level discussions about your offense and what you’re doing because ultimately when your quarterback is comfortable on those plays, it makes them work,” Stefanski said. “It’s very simple. Constantly having that dialogue with Deshaun. I’ve done it since he started. You do that with all your starting midfielders. He wants to be involved. He’ll be in town. We’ll be spending a lot of time together – I should say as much time as is allowed.” .
Stefanski and Watson were not allowed as much time as they could have served in their first year after the March 18th deal. This is due to the comment leaving two people unable to speak from the time Watson had to leave the premises on 30 August until he was allowed to return on 10 October.
The comment was always expected to have an effect on Watson’s growth. Not only did it keep him from playing in regular season games — which he last did on January 3, 2021, before making his Browns debut on December 4 — but it also kept him away from experiences that can only be gained by going through things like that.
“Anything you do, you can be from anything personal to any activities for work, just being laid off is definitely hard because you don’t get the full impact,” Watson said. “You don’t understand the feelings, the mood swings, the adversity, all those different things that you can kind of think about mentally, but they’re different when you’re living through them and going through them at full speed.”
That’s why Watson has tried to avoid grandiose statements about where he expected to be, both this season and beyond. Asked repeatedly about when fans can expect to see the 2019 or 2020 edition of him, the one going to the Pro Bowl earned him a place in the conversation about the game’s elite quarterbacks.
Watson has repeatedly answered that he is unwilling to set some kind of timeline for when or if this version will return. He was rarely on display during his six-game career this season, when he completed just 58.2% of his passes for 1,102 yards and seven touchdowns with five interceptions.
Now that Watson has gone through that initial reboot phase, he knows some might fall back on those lofty expectations. He not only envied the masses for their right to do so, but also was unwilling to join them.
“Taking time off and then transitioning into a new position, it was hard to do,” said Watson. “I’m not saying I can’t do it and I won’t be able to do it, but as a realist I know there are going to be some challenges and some ups and downs. … For me to be able to go into these projections for 2023, yeah, the projections have to be High because we have the talent, we have the potential and we have the people and the chops to be able to meet those expectations. We have to make sure that we do everything we can do consistently every week to try to meet those expectations.”
Contact Chris at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com.
On Twitter: @ceasterlingABJ