Sure, Deshaun Watson plays football like he quit on his team years ago.
But, no, he did not actually quit on the Browns on Sunday.
Watson falsely came under fire after some accused him of walking off the field on a fourth-and-goal situation in Sunday’s 34-13 road loss to the Commanders.
In reality, the Browns had 12 men on the field and Watson opted for a delay of game infraction. The five-yard penalty made coach Kevin Stefanski change his mind and send in the field goal unit.
“Too many men in a huddle,” Watson said, per Cleveland.com. “That was it.”
Watson is an easy target right now with the Browns looking like perhaps the worst team in the league and the owner of the NFL’s only fully guaranteed contract playing like a third-stringer.
Once one of the NFL’s rising stars, Watson instead looks like the anchor holding back a Browns team that rallied to make the playoffs last year with Joe Flacco.
Sunday’s bizarre moment seemed worse than it did in reality since the initial clip made it seem like Watson defied Stefanski’s call to go for it on fourth-and-goal at the eight-yard line while trailing 24-3 in the third quarter.
Watson walked off the field toward Stefanski, who reacted in an exasperated manner before talking to his quarterback.
The Fox broadcasting crew did not initially mention there being 12 men on the field.
“Kevin Stefanski has to be sick,” analyst Greg Olsen said.
The Browns received a delay of game penalty before kicking a field goal to cut a 21-point deficit to 18 after having a first-and-goal at the two-yard line.
Watson could have used a timeout, but they had already taken one earlier in the drive.
“We had the wrong amount of people in the huddle, and then at that point, we were just going to kick the field goal,” Stefanski said.
The Commanders scored on the next drive to all but end the game and drop the Browns to 1-4.
Watson completed just 15-of-28 passes for 125 yards and one touchdown Sunday in yet another underwhelming performance.
He has thrown for 852 yards and five touchdowns to go along with three interceptions through five games and has failed to hit 200 passing yards in any game.
Stefanski, perhaps knowing the reality of Watson’s contract, said he’s sticking with the $230 million man.
The Browns will try to rebound in Week 6 on the road against the Eagles off their bye week.
“We’re not changing quarterbacks,” he told reporters after the game. “We need to play better. I need to coach better and that’s really what it is.”
