Most teams have quarterback controversies. The Cleveland Browns have quarterback complexities.
This goes back way before Deshaun Watson and Shedeur Sanders stepped onto the field for a team that, even in its second iteration, can’t seem to solve this gridiron puzzle.
It looks like the NFL will get more of the same old Browns even though Watson entered Saturday’s preseason game as a yearslong question mark after signing a $230 million deal when the Houston Texans shipped him out of town amid some alleged seedy behavior in 2021.
But after being the star of the Texans, a suspension, poor play and injuries have mostly kept Watson on the sidelines, hoping he could eventually return.
Sanders is the antithesis of Watson in that his Hall of Fame father Deion was his coach for most of his life and his talent has required an explanation of the nuance he brings to the field as part of his player package.
The Browns fell to the Chicago Bears 34–10 in their preseason opener on Saturday in Chicago, but the focus of Cleveland’s entire world was on the two main men who played under center.
Watson won the competition, as far as the lead in the race to be QB-1. He got the start and went 11-for-15 for 126 yards with no scores and no interceptions in the first half. He did fumble as he attempted a pass at the end of the second quarter, but that was more of an offensive line problem.
Sanders came on in the third quarter and went 6–11 for 79 yards and a pick.
Dillon Gabriel entered last and contributed to the overall QB totals of 22-for-34 for 206 yards and a pair of picks.
Whether he was happy or upset about the QB play, first-year coach Todd Monken just put his own spin on the results.
“We’re just still in training,” Monken said in his postgame media availability. “Basically, we went out there today and we’re 13 miles into our training, and we’ll get closer next week and we’ll get closer the week after.
“And there’s a lot to clean-up. There is coaching and playing. So again, frustrating at certain levels, but certainly you can’t turn the ball over three times. You certainly can’t do that.”
When asked how it was to see Watson perform, Monken had a lot of praise.
“It was awesome. I mean, it was so cool to watch him play. I get all of the frustration by fans and himself, but for him to come back and work like he did is an unbelievable credit to him. And then to go out there—he was having fun today, and that is so cool. And I thought he really functioned at a high level.”
Watson admitted that being on the grass for the first time in about two seasons was a thrill.
“I had fun with the guys, enjoying myself, smiling, getting hit a little bit, going through certain situations and talking with coach on the headset. So, everything was good to be back out there, and I was definitely having fun,” Watson told reporters afterward.
Sanders is set to get the start in Week 2 of the preseason against the Buffalo Bills. Monken said Watson and Dillon will work the second half.
Sanders, a second-year signal caller, didn’t just throw on the field. He started off his postgame press conference by calling out the media for the lack of numbers in the room, and delivered a curve.
“Seems a little empty today,” Sanders chided. “Because we lost, is that what it is?”
When asked about big plays to Gage Larvadain and Luke Floriea, Sanders said: “I mean, I don’t really get excited. I don’t get excited about the big plays and that stuff no more because it’s like it’s playing chess. It’s like, if you do this, we going to do that. So, it’s just the right move in the right time. It was the right play call in the right time.”
Sanders took a different approach when a reporter asked about his best throw of the day.
“Check down to the running back in the red zone,” he shot back. “That was the best throw to me because I expect (that if) they go cover zero. I expected to get the ball out my hand, do that. I expect on a quick game to get it out my hand, especially in zone coverage and everything.”
Monken said the whole team, from the running game to he himself, has to improve. But he was satisfied with the signal callers despite the final score.
“I really I think our team is only going to continue to get better, and we’re going to continue to develop our young players and continue to progress. But I was hoping our quarterbacks would play like that and function like that,” he said.
It’s a complex equation in Cleveland, whether the focus is on the original Browns—whose history runs 1946 to 1995 before the club moved to Baltimore and changed its nickname to the Ravens—or this version, a club that reappeared as an expansion team in 1999. Either way, it’s a QB room that perpetually has more questions than answers.
