A change in venue from Houston to Cincinnati might relieve Deshaun Watson of the mental stress in continuing his comeback from 700 days off. (TheLandOnDemand)
Emotions, not nerves, helped to cause Deshaun Watson's faulty mechanics in first game back
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Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland. He has covered the Browns since 1984.
Takeaways from Browns practice and interviews …
Deshaun Watson’s worst game of his career was the result of faulty mechanics caused by a 700-day layoff and by the emotions of returning to play in Houston amid a circus atmosphere. All the over-analysis can be pared down to those two factors.
“Last week … it was a lot [of stress],” Watson said on Thursday. “The anticipation to just be back on the field, the anticipation of going back to my former team, the anticipation of playing against former teammates and being in front of a crowd that used to cheer for me at the time. All of that stuff was definitely a lot.
“I am human, so I definitely have things running through my mind and through just my soul in general. I am glad that is out of the way. I am glad we got the win.”
At the same time, Watson said he wasn’t nervous. But it’s obvious what was running through his mind affected the simple mechanics of throwing a football.
So many balls thrown into the carpeted floor of NRG Stadium – rather than high and wildly off target – indicated he was tight, even when he had time to make simple throws. The game plan created simple, low-risk throws for him, which he mostly was unable to make.
“It was just more mechanics, just my base, my shoulder plane and my shoulder leverage and keeping that up high. It was just all fundamentals with that,” Watson said.
He also said his footwork in the pocket was afoul.
“My footwork, making sure my base is staying tight as much as possible, making sure I am trusting the O line within the pocket and just making sure I am trusting my eyes and my feet. If I can do that and know where I want to go with the ball, then we can be very, very successful.”
So the question is if another three days of practice with the first team is enough time to see quantum improvement in his second start. He’ll need to be a lot better for the Browns to compete against the defending AFC champion Cincinnati Bengals rather than the 1-10-1 Houston Texans.
“I don’t think it is ever enough [time], but it is enough to be able to be talking, be able to adjust and be able to see how things kind of unfolded with that game,” Watson said. “Every week, you have to know that you are going against a different defensive coordinator, so you have to be able to adjust from that end, too.
“The most you can do is get on the practice field, throw routes and try to convert that timing and then watch as much tape as you can and communicate outside of the building without going into any deeper schemes like that but staying within the scheme and just talking outside of the building. I think that is the biggest thing we do and then go out there Sunday and just try to play loose and do it fast.”
Myles to go
When Joe Burrow was asked the single biggest difference about the Browns' defense that's enabled them to go 4-0 skein against him, he responded, “Myles Garrett.”
For the record, in those four Cleveland wins against Burrow, Garrett has six sacks, four additional quarterback hits, two forced fumbles and one pass deflection that resulted in an interception.
“When Myles gets rolling and we create some opportunities for him, he’s hard to deal with,” said defensive coordinator Joe Woods. “Week to week, we try to think of what teams will do to block Myles.”
Lately, Garrett has been moved around on occasion – mostly to left end but also inside over center. Woods said those moves are based on creating matchups favorable to Garrett “but also to the other guys [on the defensive front].”
Still looking
After a long drought of defensive turnovers, the Browns are hoping the three takeaways in Houston (there was an additional one on special teams) follows the football bromide that “turnovers come in bunches.” The Browns are tied for 30th with five interceptions and tied for 29th with 12 takeaways overall.
One player who didn’t take advantage against Houston’s dismal offense was Greg Newsome. He dropped an interception just before halftime while surveying the clear path to the end zone.
Newsome is still looking for his first career interception after 22 NFL games.
“I’ll take an easy one, obviously, but I’m trying to go out there and get one,” he said.
The Browns have four interceptions by four players in the four games against Burrow. They’ve been turned in by former linebacker B.J. Goodson, Denzel Ward, John Johnson, and most recently A.J. Green in the Halloween night meeting.
Newsome’s take on Burrow: “He can do everything. For him to be able to turn around a franchise like that is just incredible. He can make any throw, he can use his legs, he’s very tough. He won’t just go down and slide. He’ll run into you. He’s just a tough competitor.”
Brownie bits
Offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt said it would be “easy” to adapt in-game to Jacoby Brissett in relief of Watson at quarterback, but “I don’t see that happening.” Van Pelt echoed the organization’s thinking (mandate?) when he added, “I think personally, I would like to see [Watson] get as many reps as he can regardless of how it is going. We need to work through the rust, get it completely knocked off and feeling good about the end of the year.” …
With Anthony Schwartz on IR with a concussion and David Bell limited with a thumb injury, the candidates to fill out the receiver roster on game day are Demetric Felton and rookie Mike Woods. They’ve been inactive for six and seven games, respectively, and have combined for three receptions for 24 yards on nine targets …
A day after Donovan Peoples-Jones earned the AFC special teams player of the week honor for his 76-yard punt return for a touchdown, the Browns claimed Tampa Bay punt returner Jaelon Darden, who leads the NFL in punt returns (31) and yards (330) this season. What’s up with that? “Any time you got a player with Jaelon’s ability, you’re always looking to improve the roster,” said special teams coordinator Mike Priefer. “That has nothing to do, obviously, with Donovan. We’re not looking to swap anybody out. Just looking to the future. Donovan plays a lot of offense, darn near every snap. At some point he’s going to be tired. At some point he's going to need a break. Jaelon provides that ability to be a dual returner.”
