Watson clueless on return

The success of the 2023 season for the Browns is rooted more on hope than it is reality. At least that's how Deshaun Watson sees it, although he didn't come right out and admit it in his session with the media Thursday.

He basically revealed he has no idea on how long the rotator cuff injury, the one that that has for all practical purposes shelved him for a month, will last. 

"I thought I was ready (for the Indianapolis Colts) last Sunday," he said. "I wasn't. I didn't have the strength or things like that to be able to go out there and play . . . a complete game." 

Did his body fool him? I don't know. I'm not a doctor.  It was reported he seemed okay in practice last week. But Watson has been around long enough to know there is a world of difference between practice, where no one is allowed to touch him, and games, where he is the prime target.

The speed of the game is also what caused him to look like a rookie making his first National Football League start against the Colts, who were practically frothing to do major damage. That, too, will be a factor until he strings games together and becomes more accustomed to the difference.

Now the question becomes how long Watson will be in the current protocol. He's strictly rehabbing this week, recovering from residual swelling of the original injury, a bruised muscle attached to his rotator cuff. It prevents him from cutting loose with his passes. 

Watson's guess: "As soon as possible. We've just got to go through the process again and rehab and get back to the docs and try to strengthen as much as possible and get the pain away and try to get back on the field as soon as possible," he said.

Rinse, wash, repeat. It's a recovery in slow motion that is quickly diminishing chances of returning to the postseason. Only10 games left after Sunday's trip to Seattle.

Structurally, everything else is sound. But until the muscle is completely healed, there is no way Watson should be allowed to suit up and risk swelling again. For every two or three steps forward, all it takes is one major setback to blow everything up.

The Cleveland media is calling on Browns General Manager Andrew Berry to bring Jacoby Brissett, last season's quarterback now a backup with the Washington Commanders, back to Cleveland due to his familiarity with Kevin Stefanski's offense. 

Makes sense. Trading deadline is in five days. How Berry deals with this will tell all you need to know about how desperate he is.