Deshaun Watson will not be the Cleveland Browns quarterback for the rest of this season. This week, the Browns announced that Watson would undergo season-ending surgery to repair a broken bone in his throwing shoulder. The injury occurred in the first half of Sunday’s win over the Baltimore Ravens. Watson suffered a displaced fracture in his right glenoid in his right shoulder. The 28-year-old also played through a high ankle sprain.
“I’m still in disbelief,” Watson told reporters on Wednesday, per NFL.com. “I’m still trying to process all the information that I’ve been getting since last night. It’s tough. I felt like we were turning a corner to really make a run and I believe that we still will with the guys in this locker room. I just wanted to be physically a part of it, on the field with those guys.”
Watson also told reporters he wanted to play through the injury. “I pushed very hard for it,” he said. To the point where all the experts and the doctors were the ones who told me there was no chance. (I) pushed as far as I possibly could to get back out there and just try to play and try to push it to after the season. But I think the best situation for, I guess, longevity in my career is to be able to get immediate surgery, and that’s what all the experts said, so I’ve got to follow their footsteps and go from there.”
Browns general manager Andrew Berry is disappointed that Watson is out for the rest of the year but is confident the team will overcome this challenge. “That’s probably one of the things I’m most proud of with the group to date has been our ability to do so over the first nine games,” Berry said. “We are going to have another obstacle to overcome as we go through the next eight games of the season. But because of those experiences, we really do have an organization – players, coaches and staff – that have grown Teflon skin and cast-iron stomachs. I’m proud of that and we’re going to have to rely on that as we move forward.”
In six games, Watson threw for 1,115 yards with seven touchdowns and four interceptions while posting a 5-1 record. He joined the Browns before the 2022 season via trade from the Houston Texans. He was suspended for the first 11 games of the 2022 season due to the sexual assault allegations made against him beginning in March 2021. In his NFL career, Watson was named to the Pro Bowl three times and led the league in passing yards in 2020.
