10/21/24 12:23:00
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10/21 12:21 CDT Browns QB Deshaun Watson's season ended by ruptured Achilles
tendon, team said he'll have surgery
Browns QB Deshaun Watson's season ended by ruptured Achilles tendon, team said
he'll have surgery
By TOM WITHERS
AP Sports Writer
CLEVELAND (AP) --- Deshaun Watson won't finish the season as Cleveland's
starting quarterback for the second straight year.
He's injured again, and the Browns have new problems.
Watson ruptured his right Achilles tendon in the first half of Sunday's loss to
Cincinnati, collapsing as he began to run and leading some Browns fans to cheer
while the divisive QB laid on the ground writhing in pain.
The team feared Watson's year was over and tests done Monday confirmed the
rupture. The Browns said Watson will have surgery and miss the rest of the
season but "a full recovery is expected."
Watson was injured on a noncontact play in the second quarter of Cleveland's
21-14 loss to the Bengals and carted off the field in tears.
It's the second significant injury in two seasons for Watson, who broke the
glenoid (socket) bone in his throwing shoulder last year after just six starts.
The 29-year-old went down Sunday without being touched on a draw play late in
the first half. His right leg buckled and Watson crumpled to the turf. TV
replays showed his calf rippling, consistent with an Achilles injury.
He immediately put his hands on his helmet, clearly aware of the severity of an
injury similar to the one Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers sustained last year.
As he was being assisted by the team's medical staff and backup Dorian
Thompson-Robinson grabbed a ball to begin warming up, there was some derisive
cheers and boos from the stands in Huntington Bank Field.
Cleveland fans have been split over Watson, who has been accused of being
sexually inappropriate with women.
The reaction didn't sit well with several Watson's teammates, including star
end Myles Garrett, the NFL's reigning Defensive Player of the Year, who was
appalled by the fans' behavior.
"We should be ashamed of ourselves as Browns and as fans to boo anyone and
their downfall. To be season-altering, career-altering injury," Garrett said.
"Man's 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 for my glass house.
"Ultimately everyone's human and they're disappointed just like we are, but we
have to be better than that as people. There's levels to this. At the end of
the day, it's just a game and you don't boo anybody being injured and you don't
celebrate anyone's downfall."
Backup quarterback Jameis Winston also admonished the uncomfortable celebration.
"I am very upset with the reaction to a man that has had the world against him
for the past four years, and he put his body and life on the line for this city
every single day," he said. "The way I was raised, I will never pull on a man
when he's down, but I will be the person to lift him up.
"I know you love this game. When I first got here, I knew these were some
amazing fans, but Deshaun was treated badly and now he has to overcome another
obstacle. So I'm going to support him, I'm going to lift him up and I'm going
to be there for him."
The injury is yet another twist in Watson's tumultuous time with the Browns.
Cleveland traded three first-round draft picks and five overall to Houston in
2022 to get him, with owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam approving the team giving
Watson a fully guaranteed, five-year $230 million contract.
With a solid roster, the Browns were desperate to find a QB who could help them
compete against the top AFC teams.
The Browns had moved on from Baker Mayfield despite drafting him No. 1 overall
in 2018 and making the playoffs two seasons later.
But Watson has not played up to expectations --- fans have been pushing for him
to be benched this season --- and Cleveland's move to get him has been labeled
an abject failure with the team still on the hook to pay him $46 million in
each of the next two seasons.
Watson's arrival in Cleveland also came amid accusations by more than two dozen
women of sexual assault and harassment during massage therapy sessions while he
played for the Texans. Two grand juries declined to indict him and he has
settled civil lawsuits in all but one of the cases.
Watson was suspended by the NFL for his first 11 games and fined $5 million for
violating the league's personal conduct policy before he took his first snap
with the Browns. The long layoff --- he sat out the 2021 season in a contract
dispute --- led to struggles once he got on the field, and Watson made just six
starts last season before hurting his shoulder.
Cleveland signed veteran Joe Flacco, who went 4-1 as a starter and led the
Browns to the playoffs.
Before Watson got hurt this year, he didn't play much better. He was one of the
league's lowest-rated passers for a Cleveland team that hasn't scored 20 points
in a game and is back in search of a franchise QB.
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