BEREA, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – The latest sexual assault allegations levied against Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson hung over Wednesday’s media availability as the team began preparing for their trip to Jacksonville this weekend.
Earlier Wednesday morning the team placed four players on injured reserve and made a slew of roster moves.
Here’s the top Brownie Bites from Wednesday.
Deshaun responds – Watson’s attorney Rusty Hardin issued a statement on Watson’s behalf Wednesday afternoon. “Deshaun strongly denies the allegations in the Jane Doe lawsuit filed Monday. We have asked him not to comment further while this matter works its way through the courts, but are comfortable he will ultimately be vindicated. We will be ready to defend this case in court at the appropriate time, but don’t intend to conduct our defense in the media. We would ask that people be patient while the legal process runs its course. In the meantime, Deshaun is going to focus his energy and concentration on football.” Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski did not add anything beyond the team’s statement on Tuesday other than saying Watson was “focused on the task at hand” and will play Sunday at Jacksonville. Watson was accused of sexually assaulting a woman in October 2020 during what was supposed to be a private dinner date at her apartment in the lawsuit filed Monday, the most severe allegations levied against the quarterback. Watson served an 11-game suspension and paid a $5 million fine as part of a disciplinary settlement with the NFL stemming from those allegations of sexual misconduct made in over two dozen lawsuits filed against Watson. Watson reached private settlements to resolve all but two of those lawsuits.
Counter point – Watson said Wednesday he learned about the claims when everyone else did, but the plaintiffs lawyer, Tony Buzbee, posted the following statement on his Instagram account disputing Watson’s statement. “We reached out to attorney Rusty Hardin’s office for ten months in an attempt to resolve this case. We knew this case was the most serious and egregious case brought against Watson to date and our client, who is rightly traumatized by these events, wanted to attempt a private resolution. We thought that was the best approach given the media storm that occurred surrounding the legion of other claims. Unfortunately, Watson’s team or maybe his lawyers couldn’t or wouldn’t give this case the attention it was due. Mr. Hardin now has tried to contact us since we filed suit. Unfortunately we see that now as too little, too late. But, we are officers of the court, and we will give Mr. Hardin and his esteemed team the respect he has earned and will work with him to progress this case in an efficient manner. With regard to whether Deshaun Watson “knows who this woman is,” I hope that’s his defense. He is well aware of what he did. This case is strong and now that we have filed we will pursue it with vigor. We have heard from the NFL. We will respond in due course. Finally, you should know that, although I wasn’t aware of her claims, Mr. Watson was well aware of this victim and her claims immediately after it occurred and Watson was again reminded back when we filed the first lawsuit for the other multiple victims. (I wasn’t part of that.) I can understand, given the number of women that Mr. Watson has interacted with, that he could forget some or many of them. However, given the nature of the alleged conduct in this case, I expect this incident is something he wouldn’t soon forget. We look forward to a trial by jury.”
Injury bug – Four players were placed on injured reserve Wednesday – linebackers Mohamoud Diabate (hip) and Tony Fields II (ankle), defensive tackle Maurice Hurst II (ankle) and safety Juan Thornhill (calf) - a blow to the Browns defense. “I think we had a lot of practice at the last year with a lot of guys being out, and it's next man up mentality,” cornerback Denzel Ward said. “They did a great job of bringing a lot of good talent in here, so I don't think it's going to be much of a fall off, but those are obviously great talents that we're going to be losing and looking forward to getting them back, but we got to find a way to still get a win with guys being out and guys coming in.” All four are expected to return this season as they did not suffer season-ending injuries according to Stefanski.
Heat is on – Watson was under siege last Sunday. The Cowboys hit him 17 times, sacking him six as he was unable to burn Dallas’ defense with big plays like he used to before he got to Cleveland. Jacksonville is just as tough in the trenches. “We got to be successful on first down, we got to start off positive,” Watson said. “We got to create some type of success early in the downs to be able to open up the playbook and do what we exactly want to do. Jacksonville has an elite front – [Travon] Walker, [Josh] Hines-Allen, [Arik] Armstead, they like to bring the heat. They're very athletic, they're very tough, very fast and they play super, super hard and we got to make sure that we play to throughout the whistle and be able to execute down the field. If I do break outside the pocket or even if I'm sitting in the pocket, the receiver's got to win their matchups and that's the test that we got to make sure that we try to win on Sundays.”
Njoku out – Although tight end David Njoku escaped being placed on injured reserve Wednesday due to an ankle sprain, Stefanski ruled Njoku out for Sunday’s game. “Beyond this week I can't [say], don't really have [information], we'll have to see how it goes,” Stefanski said.
Corresponding moves – Cleveland signed four players to the active roster: receiver David Bell, cornerback Mike Ford Jr. and defensive tackle Sam Kamara from the practice squad. Linebacker Khaleke Hudson was signed from the Saints’ practice squad. Defensive tackle Siaki Ika, tight end Geoff Swaim and linebacker Luji Vilain were signed to the practice squad.
Injury report – DNP: CB Myles Harden, TE David Njoku (ankle), CB Denzel Ward (shoulder), LT Jedrick Wills Jr.; LIMITED: LG Joel Bitonio (elbow), OT Jack Conklin (knee), LS Charlie Hughlett (foot), DT Dalvin Tomlinson (knee),DE Alex Wright (triceps/elbow); FULL: C Nick harris (knee), WR Jerry Jeudy (knee), LB Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah (hand)
Local News
Comments / 0