3 reasons for less optimism even with Deshaun Watson return
By Greg Newland
Reason No. 2 – locker room concerns
Winning certainly cures a lot of things, so it’s been relatively quiet so far this week for the Cleveland Browns, but there is undoubtedly a locker room/leadership issue on this team. And while Watson may help with some of these issues, there are too many supposable leaders who are far too outspoken.
On multiple occasions, this year both Myles Garrett and Denzel Ward have not taken accountability and pushed the blame onto others. Garrett hasn’t specifically called out Joe Woods but has made a few comments that everyone knows are directed at him.
After a couple of poor games, Ward took to Twitter to try and correct someone who posted his stat line which was less than impressive. He also failed to take accountability when the Browns’ secondary gave up multiple big plays from miscommunications and busted coverages at the beginning of the season.
As I stated before, winning certainly cures a lot of issues in a locker room, but this is something to watch closely. If the Browns do win a few games and then lose a close one, this is a boiling point that could pour over if not monitored closely. For as great as a pure football coach Kevin Stefanski is, he has struggled in the locker room and keeping things in check.