Deshaun Watson has gotten off to a rather rough start this season, and his woes were on full display in the Cleveland Browns’ Monday night loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
In the 26-22 defeat, Watson went just 22-for-40 with 235 yards, a touchdown and an interception while being sacked six times. He also lost a pair of fumbles.
Afterward, Watson was his own biggest critic.
“Still coming along,” Watson said after the game when asked how he feels he’s playing right now, per Kevin Patra of NFL.com. “I feel like, tonight, it was s—– as far as that. There’s some plays that we capitalized and we did good, but as far as my part, it’s not good enough. I put that on me. The first play, yeah, we can get into the tactics of receiver running out and putting the ball out, and this, that and the third, but I got to give him a better ball. The forced fumble for a touchdown for them. We can say, ‘This guy can do this,’ but I’ve got to protect the ball. We’re not going to put it on anyone else. You put it on me. I can take the full blame, I can take the criticism and I’m going to do that.”
The Browns acquired Watson in a March 2022 trade with the Houston Texans. They then rewarded the quarterback with a record-breaking $230 million contract.
Deshaun Watson was suspended for the first 11 games of the 2022 campaign for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy. In the six games in which he did play last season, he was uninspiring, logging seven touchdowns and five picks while registering a passer rating of 79.1.
He looks even worse thus far in 2023, but at the very least, he is holding himself accountable.
“I told everyone in our offense, the whole team, I’m gonna do better for this team, for this organization, so we can win games like that,” Watson said. “I’m fine with taking the criticism, and I will be better.”
The Browns are 1-1 and will look to get back over .500 when they host the Tennessee Titans on Sunday.
