BEREA — You've got questions . There's no doubt you have them.
Coming out of the Browns' 33-17 opening-day loss to the Dallas Cowboys , there's no way not to have questions . There's an argument to be made there's nothing but questions to be had from that game.
The answers, though, won't be found in this space. Only some of the biggest questions to emerge from the loss will be found here.
Specifically, the questions here are those the Browns can at least try to provide an sufficient answer to when they travel to Jacksonville to face the Jaguars on Sunday. It's a massive early-season game between two 0-1 that came into the season fancying themselves as AFC playoff contenders.
One of them will be 0-2 and staring the prospects of a long up-hill climb ahead to possibly return to the playoffs. If the Browns can't get some answers to these questions against the Jaguars, it's going to be them.
Where is quarterback Deshaun Watson mentally as well as physically?
Head coach Kevin Stefanski said Wednesday he never hesitated in keeping Deshaun Watson as his starting quarterback against Jacksonville. The question had nothing to do with the somewhat-dismal all-around showing against the Cowboys and everything to do with wondering where Watson's mind is at after Monday's announcement of the 27th lawsuit filed against him in Texas accusing him of sexual assault.
Watson was asked Wednesday how he felt he could play against the Jaguars despite the latest off-the-field legal issue, which he maintains he didn't have any acknowledge of prior to Monday. He talked about how he's keeping his "focus on football," and "keeping the main thing the main thing."
Setting aside the allegations for a moment and focusing, at least for the purposes of this, on the football, it's clear there's still a lot of room to go for Watson to get back to a comfort level expected from a top-level NFL quarterback. There was a skittishness in his performance against Dallas that helped contribute to the six sacks and 17 hits he took in the game, as he seemed to show little confidence in his own internal clock and pocket presence.
Everyone around the Browns insists there's confidence in Watson to get it right, on the field, and become that quarterback they've been waiting to see since 2022. The question is if there's really confidence within Watson in that becoming a reality.
Can the Cleveland Browns offensive line handle pass protection against the talented Jacksonville Jaguars?
Watson was under pressure a lot against the Cowboys, as was stated before. The quarterback shoulders some of the blame, but the offensive line also has to wear it, since they're the ones tasked to protect him.
No one who played on the Browns offensive line in the opener was doing that, mind you. Almost to a man, from replacement left tackle James Hudson III to Pro Bowl guards Joel Bitonio and Wyatt Teller, accepted fault in Watson taking all the hits he did from Dallas.
What comes next, though? The Cowboys were just the start of the run of talented defensive lines the Browns are going to see over the first month of the season.
The Jaguars boasts an aggressive front that's extremely talented, led by defensive ends Josh Hines-Allen (formerly just the "other" Josh Allen) and Travon Walker, who led the NFL in combined sacks by two pass rushers last season with 27.5. Then Jacksonville added former San Francisco 49ers defensive tackle Arik Amstead in free agency who, when healthy, adds an interior pass rush that perfectly compliments the dynamic edge duo.
In other words, the kind of defensive line that can wreck things if they get the chance to do so. That's where progress needs to be made — and, more importantly, shown — with the Browns offensive line.
Are the injuries already becoming an issue for the Cleveland Browns defense?
It's a tad rhetorical, because of course they're an issue. You don't lose two starters in safety Juan Thornhill and defensive tackle Maurice Hurst II like the Browns did this week to the injured reserve, along with reserve linebackers Tony Fields II and Mohamoud Diabate, and it not impact the defense.
If the appearance of defensive ends Myles Garrett (foot) and Za'Darius Smith (back) on Thursday's injury report becomes anything more than what the Browns are currently insisting, which is that they're not anything more than minor, everything that follows becomes moot. That remains to be seen.
However, this goes back to the last time they faced Jacksonville, which was last December, while the Browns were also hammered by bad injury luck. They lost multiple starters that afternoon in Cleveland on the defensive side, including Hurst, safety Grant Delpit and defensive end Ogbo Okoronkwo, and still managed to get the massive win for their playoff resume.
The injuries really haven't stopped since then. They were an issue in minicamp, an issue in training camp and, one week into the season, are an issue in the regular season.
The Browns seemed to absorb those injuries a year ago and keep on rolling. Here's their early-season test facing an offense that led the NFL in explosive play percentage in Week 1 at 15.1%, while the Browns defense allowed just two explosive plays to Dallas in 60 plays (3.3%).
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
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: 3 burning questions for Cleveland Browns to answer against Jacksonville Jaguars
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