Cleveland Browns: 3 players to watch in Week 17 against Washington

Despite the fact that the Cleveland Browns won’t have a chance at going to the playoffs, they do have several players to watch as they face Washington

The Cleveland Browns will take on the Washington Commanders on Sunday — just one week after being eliminated from playoff contention. As for the Commanders, they’re still in line for a postseason berth if they win out.

So, with a game that doesn’t mean very much to Cleveland, what should we be concerned with? Let’s discuss that with these three players who are worth a look at on Sunday.

Cleveland Browns player No. 3 to watch: Deshaun Watson, QB

For the past four games, much of the attention in Cleveland has been on quarterback Deshaun Watson, and again that will be the case in Week 17. Watson has been progressing but still has a lot of room for improvement. He’s been highly regarded as one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL and has been brought to Cleveland to try to win a Super Bowl,

Watson discussed that very point recently when he was interviewed by the local media this week. Things have been rather shaky the last few weeks as he’s gone 2-2 as the team’s starter.

He’s looking forward to the future, but there’s a lot of pressure on Watson to perform well and make sure the team moves forward in 2023.

So, we will all look to watch and see what Watson can do on Sunday. Can he throw for more than one touchdown in the game? When you look back at Watson’s career one of the highlights of that time has been his ability to rack up yardage and touchdowns — which hasn’t happened much to this point.

It will be interesting to watch if he can get into a better groove with star wide receiver Amari Cooper and his second go-to receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones. In last week’s loss to the New Orleans Saints, Watson watched as there were several dropped passes, including potential touchdown passes to Cooper and Peoples-Jones. Watching that progression to see how they work together on Sunday will be important to monitor.