The Cleveland Browns are synonymous with the word chaos and they are on the verge of it heading into Week 9.
On Wednesday, the team announced that starting quarterback Deshaun Watson was placed in concussion protocol Tuesday morning after he experienced concussion symptoms Monday night. With the Browns set to go on the road and play the New Orleans Saints on Sunday, the team’s starting quarterback for the game is currently unknown.
Watson has enough time to clear the NFL’s return-to-participation protocol by Sunday, and could still start in New Orleans. It’s also possible that Watson doesn’t clear the protocol in time, and second-year quarterback Shedeur Sanders gets the start.
If the latter happens, starting Sanders would be the easy and obvious path for Cleveland. However, head coach Todd Monken could have a very difficult decision to make if Watson clears protocol in time for the game.
While Watson works his way through protocol, Sanders will likely be getting all of the first-team reps in practice. If everything goes well for Watson, he could clear protocol on Saturday, but he won’t have many, if any, practice reps with the starting offense.
That means Todd Monken will have to decide if he wants to play Watson, with no reps, or Sanders, who prepared as the starter for the week.
Practice time could lead to a Shedeur Sanders start even if Deshaun Watson clears concussion protocol
The Browns have had multiple players clear concussion protocol this season without missing a game, but each concussion is different, and the circumstances for Watson are especially different.
He was placed in protocol later than most players, which starts his clock later, and reps at his position are more important than at other spots. With limited practice not allowed until the third phase of the return-to-participation protocol, it’s already clear that Watson won’t have many reps.
Beyond the reps, Monken has to put together an offensive game plan, and while the head coach has previously said things don’t necessarily have to change much depending on who’s at quarterback, Watson and Sanders are different QBs in terms of strengths and weaknesses. That means a game plan for Sanders could be much different than a game plan for Watson.
Will the Browns entertain two game plans this week, or force one of the quarterbacks to fit in the other QB’s plan? Decisions like those are why situations like these are so difficult. However, it’s Monken’s responsibility to navigate these tough circumstances.
Monken has previously called Sanders a starting quarterback, so he could just decide to go with the second-year player for this week. However, the head coach has also said Watson gives the team the best chance to move the ball and score points, so Monken could start him even without practice reps.
Either way, all eyes will be on Cleveland to see what happens.
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