The Cleveland Browns finished their preseason on Saturday night with a 33-37 loss against the Seattle Seahawks, but the biggest story in the game was who didn’t play.
Quarterback Deshaun Watson was supposed to start the final preseason game, and head coach Kevin Stefanski announced a few weeks ago that his veteran quarterback would get some reps in Seattle.
Watson did not play a single snap on Saturday night with a handful of other starters, and not playing the 28-year-old quarterback was the team’s best move.
Cleveland Browns Got It Right
There is always a positive to playing starters for a few snaps in the preseason to give them real game looks, but for Watson, the best thing to do was not throw him into the fire under the circumstances he has been faced with.
Watson is coming off a shoulder surgery that ended his 2023 season in the middle of November, and in the middle of last week, he missed practice time with shoulder soreness.
There is no point in playing Watson in a game that has no meaning when he is dealing with a sore shoulder, and also, the Cleveland Browns offensive line has taken a major hit at both tackle spots.
Left tackle Jedrick Wills Jr. and right tackle Jack Conklin are still recovering from season-ending injuries from last year, so Watson would be playing behind two backup tackles in a game where the final score doesn’t count.
Stefanski made the right move, not letting Watson play. The Browns have seen what Watson can do all offseason, through training camp and joint practices with the Minnesota Vikings, and there doesn’t seem to be too much concern about Watson’s shoulder or his role and how he looks in the offense.
It could’ve been a disaster if Watson had played on Saturday night and got injured behind a banged-up offensive line.
The Cleveland Browns sometimes seem to get many things wrong, but this time, they finally got one right: not letting their franchise quarterback see the field in their final preseason game.
