Deshaun Watson Retains Starting Role for Browns in Week 2 Despite Disastrous Opener

Cleveland Browns head coach Todd Monken offered quarterback Deshaun Watson a crucial vote of confidence on Monday, confirming that Watson will remain the team’s starting quarterback for Week 2 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, despite a disappointing performance in the season opener.

The decision comes just days after Watson turned 31 and struggled in the Browns’ lopsided 34-10 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday. Watson completed 16 of 22 passes for 205 yards, including a late touchdown and an interception, but the offense failed to find a rhythm for most of the game.

Monken emphasized that the blame for the offensive struggles lies with the entire unit, not just the quarterback. “I anticipate Deshaun will be our starter,” the Browns coach told reporters on Monday, 24 hours after the ugly 34-10 loss to the Jaguars.

Monken reiterated that it wasn’t squarely on the shoulders of Watson, who completed just 16 of 22 passes for 205 yards, as well as a garbage-time touchdown and an interception.

“We got to play better around him, we got to call it better, and he’s got to play better,” the Browns coach said. “It wasn’t just our inability to function consistently as an offense was a byproduct of ‘we’ coaching and playing.”

Still, Watson’s performance on Sunday was far from what the Browns had hoped for in his first game since Oct. 20, 2024.

Through the first three quarters, Watson only completed 11 passes for 100 yards and had an interception to his name, while the Jaguars had a 34-3 lead over the Browns.

Monken noted how long its been since Watson had started as part of why he wants to see him in the starter role again in Week 2.

“It’s only been two weeks he’s gotten all the reps, and there were some really good things on film, some things that you can build on, and there were some others that, operationally, we got to get better at,” Monken said. ​​”There’s concepts, there’s only so many looks you get from week to week, be it red zone concepts or third-down concepts. And I did think that when he had time, when he understood the concepts, he didn’t play tentative, that he let it rip. And even the touchdown at the end, sure, that was garbage time, but that was on their one corner.

“That was one of their starters out there, and that was a communication between him and the receiver. So, there were a lot of things to build on. Was it perfect? Of course not. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have scored as few of points as we did. But I’d like to see how we can build on that. I liked his week of practice last week, and I think he’s only going to continue to get better.”

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