Teammates were upset that Deshaun Watson was cheered derisively when he exited the game with a season-ending Achilles injury. (Associated Press)
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Editor's note: Tony Grossi is an analyst of the Cleveland Browns for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland. He has covered the Browns since 1984.
The day started as a celebration of the return of Nick Chubb, one of the most beloved players in Browns history.
But before the first half had ended, Cleveland fans shamefully cheered as Deshaun Watson, perhaps one of the most despised players in Browns history, was carted off the field with an Achilles tendon injury.
The sickening display sucked the energy out of everyone who was not a part of it and left the team numb after another ugly loss, 21-14, to Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals.
“We should be ashamed of ourselves as Browns and as fans to boo anyone on their downfall,” said Myles Garrett, who pre-empted coach Kevin Stefanski in the post-game interview room.
“Could be a season-altering … career-altering injury. The man is not perfect. He doesn’t need to be. None of us are expected to be perfect. Can’t judge him for what he does off the field or on the field because I can’t throw stones from my glass house.
“But we need to do better. We need to do better on the football field and we need to do better as fans for having some empathy for a man who’s doing the best he can, and did the best he can up to this point. We have to be better.”
Watson suffered the non-contact injury while having his best series of the day in the waning minutes of the first half.
He had completed three passes in a row to advance the Browns to the Cincinnati 25 and the Bengals ahead, 7-0. Two plays later, Watson’s right Achilles popped while dropping back to pass and his knee buckled him to the ground.
Before long, the entire Browns sideline – players, coaches, staff personnel – hurried to Watson’s side and knelt in prayer. After Watson was loaded on a cart, he exited in tears with a towel draped over his head.
And that’s when the derisive cheers could be heard, along with some chants of “D-T-R, D-T-R,” for incoming backup quarterback on this day, Dorian Thompson-Robinson.
“I don’t think it’s ever OK to cheer when someone’s injured. I’m sure it’s not every person in that building doing that, but that’s disappointing,” Stefanski said.
“It was a little bit disheartening to see the fans cheering,” said guard Joel Bitonio. “Their guy [Bengals safety Geno Stone] got hurt later in the game, you’re not cheering for that. It’s kind of an unwritten rule. You don’t want to see that reaction.”
Watson has been a lightning rod for fan hate since the Browns traded for him amid allegations of sexual misconduct during massage sessions in Houston in 2020 and 2021. After serving an 11-game NFL suspension in 2022, Watson’s season was cut short to six games in 2023 because of shoulder injuries. After offseason surgery, he answered the bell for the first seven games, but his play was routinely lambasted as the Browns floundered.
Stefanski said, “That’s what it looks like,” when asked if the injury were season-ending.
“No one deserves [the reaction inside the stadium],” Garrett continued. “I’ve seen him work his ass off to get back in here and put a smile on his face and try to put everything that’s outside the facility behind him. Death threats, people come to his house, going after his family. Like I said no one deserves that.
“He plays the game as hard as anyone I’ve seen. Puts everything on the line, willing to throw his body out there and be there and he plays the game at 100 mph. There’s a risk that you can be injured, and he took that risk.”
DTR, who was a surprise choice as QB2 over Jameis Winston, finished the scoring drive with Chubb scoring from 1-yard out. It was the highlight of Chubb’s return. On a pitch count in his first game back, he rushed for 22 yards on 11 carries and caught a pass for 10 yards.
“He came out of this thing good,” Stefanski said. “So he’ll be ready to roll.”
Dustin Hopkins missed the PAT after Chubb’s touchdown. He also missed a 49-yard field goal try, so the Browns never got closer to the Bengals than the 7-6 deficit.
The Browns’ defense held Burrow without a TD in the first half. Bengals returner Charlie Jones took the opening kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown and those were their only points as Burrow struggled once again in Cleveland.
But he came alive with TD passes to Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins in the second half to leave with his first victory in Cleveland in four games. And the Browns’ constipated offense continued to self-destruct with Thompson-Robinson at the helm. DTR had two good gains on RPO runs, but was intercepted twice and totaled 82 yards passing.
DTR suffered a finger injury on his throwing hand late in the game. Emergency quarterback Jameis Winston entered and put together a TD drive. The only time receiver Jerry Jeudy touched the ball was after Winston came in with 3:43 to go in the game. David Njoku made a catch in the back of the end zone for the Browns’ late touchdown.
Stefanski said he made the decision to promote DTR to QB2 for this game because he “felt like with some of the packages that we had up today, didn’t have really Jameis in the short-yardage that we’ve had up before, so felt like it was the right thing for this game.”
The coach declined to say who would start Sunday against the Ravens.
So the QB situation is murkier than ever, Jeudy was M.I.A. in his first game after the Amari Cooper trade, and it was also learned after the game that Elijah Moore was benched for the first series of the game for undisclosed disciplinary reasons.
Winston has been a supporter and promoter of Watson and was understandably upset with the reaction of Browns fans.
“I tell myself every morning what I want for myself and what I want for everyone. And I do not want the treatment that Deshaun Watson has received from these passionate fans,” Winston said.
“Deshaun was treated badly, and now he has to overcome another obstacle.”