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While the Browns are in the thick of the AFC North race considering the fact that all four teams have ended the first quarter of the 2023 season at 2-2, things certainly don’t seem to be going all that well in Cleveland.
Over the weekend, the Browns got steamrolled by their division rivals, the Baltimore Ravens, by a score of 28-3 (sorry, Falcons fans). The mitigating circumstance, of course, is that the Browns were forced to start rookie signal-caller Dorian Thompson-Robinson instead of usual starter Deshaun Watson.
Thompson-Robinson was clearly in over his head, as the 23-year-old out of UCLA completed 19 of 36 passes for 121 yards and three interceptions. The Browns offense only mustered a field goal throughout the entire game.
According to a report from Jason Lloyd, a Browns reporter who works for outlets such as The Athletic, WKYC 3 News, and 92.3 The Fan, some Browns players were “kind of aggravated he didn’t play” after he “told everybody all week he was playing.”
Even in the three games that Watson has started, he hasn’t played particularly well, certainly relative to the fully guaranteed $230 million contract that the Browns gave him.
So far this season — his first full season since serving a suspension for a bevy of sexual assault and misconduct allegations — Watson is completing 63% of his passes and has thrown for 226 yards per game four touchdowns, and two interceptions. He’s also been sacked 12 times and has 2 fumbles, losing one.
The Browns have a bye week this weekend, which gives Watson extra time to get healthy. When he and the Browns return from their break, however, they’ll be facing one of the toughest tests in the NFL when they take on the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, October 15.
Watson is likely not only playing for his starting job in Cleveland this season but for his NFL career as a whole, as it’s difficult to imagine a franchise in the league having an interest in him given both his play on the field and the baggage he carries.