Deshaun Watson blocking out noise as Browns QB tries again to return to old form

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. — The biggest adjustment Deshaun Watson could make in his third season with the Browns would seem like being able to make sure he's able to be consistently available once the season begins.

The first two seasons since Cleveland acquired the quarterback from the Houston Texans, it has gotten just 12 combined starts. Watson lost 11 games to a personal conduct policy suspension in 2022 in association with the more than two dozen allegations of sexual misconduct and sexual assault during massage appointments.

The next year, Watson lost another 11 games to various shoulder injuries. That includes the final seven regular-season games along with the AFC wild card game against Houston due to a season-ending shoulder surgery.

Whether or not that adjustment happens is something that only can be shown once the Browns actually get into the regular season. Until then, Watson is focused on a completely different adjustment he's tried to make this year.

That adjustment came through during what was, at times, a defiant, contentious 17-minute availability with the media on the second day of Browns training camp at The Greenbrier. That's where Watson laid out what he's focused on as much as anything else since his 2023 season ended with mid-November shoulder surgery.

"I think honestly it's really just blocking out all the bull (expletive), honestly, outside," Watson said. "It was tough coming in two years, different environment, different team, different all that. … So I think blocking out all the noise and focusing on me and focusing on what I need to do to be the best Deshaun Watson I can be for myself, my family and my teammates."

A big part of that, however, relies on Watson to actually do what the Browns have given him a fully-guaranteed five-year, $230 million contract to do. This time around, the conversation's about getting back to full health instead of, as it was a year ago, getting the rust off after essentially a year-and-a-half off.

Friday was the latest step forward for Watson in terms of at least giving the impression he's on track to start the Sept, 8 opener against the Dallas Cowboys, The second day of training camp was the first day the quarterback was able to compete in 11-on-11 team drills since the shoulder injury in last November's Week 10 win at the Baltimore Ravens.

Watson also is ramping up how much he's practicing. After throwing every other day through the offseason program and minicamp, he threw the first two days the Browns were in West Virginia.

"Like I've been saying before, I'm right on track, right where I want to be," Watson said. "I am right where the doctors wanted me to be and just continue to follow the process, continue to follow the script and by taking it one day at a time and just locked in on the process of what's ahead of us."

Watson didn't over-extend himself in terms of the depth of his passes during the team drills Friday. Most of them were right around the 10-yard mark, maybe a yard or two more or less, although they were almost all against fairly tight coverage.

That's why completing 6 of 7 passes during the drill was a positive. While Watson didn't throw long, he was able to display good accuracy, something he struggled with in his two seasons with the Browns. He's completed 59.8% of his passes with Cleveland.

“He’s been diligent about his rehab," head coach Kevin Stefanski said. "He’s worked very hard to put himself in position where he is right this minute. All eyes on him. I think that’s nothing new for the quarterback and the quarterback in any franchise. I think he’s used to that. So, I think for him, it’s been a big offseason of making sure his body’s right and certainly his mind is right and he’s got the right mindset as we get going.”

Watson graded his performance in the 11-on-11 drills as a "good." More than that, he said it showed him taking the next step in his return to playing.

The question of whether or not Watson will play in any of the Browns' three preseason games is one that remains to be seen. Those games aren't as important to him as just taking the daily work and building off of it through camp.

"The key in training camp is just focusing on one play at a time and just trying to execute that play versus whatever the defense is scheming up for us and just taking completions, getting positive yards and whatever mistakes are situations that pop up that you didn't see on the field," Watson said. "You watch the tape and you correct it the next day. So we felt good of just stacking those days and that's all we can do right now."

There will come a time when Watson is going to have to start stacking good performances against other teams. That will start with the Cowboys, and carry through a schedule that features more than its share of quarterbacks with whom, at one point in time, he shared the same hierarchy.

The days where Watson has been directly compared to Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow, Josh Allen or Lamar Jackson have grown distant since his last Pro Bowl season in 2020. Watson insists, though, it's his own standard which is driving him in his third season with Cleveland.

"Just being the best Deshaun Watson can be for this team so we can get that ultimate goal and maximizing my potential and my talent and that's my motivation," Watson said. "I don't have anything else that is going to motivate me."

The problem is, at some point, what's said is a direct reflection of what's seen on the field. What hasn't been seen on the field is Watson, at least not anywhere near enough.

There was the contract dispute that led him to sit out the entire 2021 season while in Houston, which coincided with the sexual impropriety allegations from women coming out, too. Then, of course, was everything that's kept him off the field the last two seasons in Cleveland.

That's led Watson to Friday, where he tried to project defiance in the face of everything that has come to define the public persona of the Browns quarterback.

"No, I give two (expletive) what other people say, to be honest," Watson said.

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: Deshaun Watson blocking out noise as Browns QB tries again to return to old form