Deshaun Watson's future in limbo after Kevin Stefanski's latest comments

Deshaun Watson's season ended on a play that looked familiar to many Browns fans in 2024 - him scrambling out of the pocket as it collapsed around him, and with him throwing the ball away. Despite him playing his best game of the season up til' his injury, Watson still collapsed and was carted off the field after doing what he's done worst all year long - failing to handle a defensive lines' pressure.

Watson was, up until his injury, the worst quarterback in the NFL. He failed to lead the team to 20 points all season. He looked like he had zero confidence in the pocket when it was clean, and no legs to run for even a handful of yards when it wasn't clean. The Watson experience was, overall, a nightmare.

So, it feels like it's not hard to see why, in a press conference one day after Watson's injury and hours after the team had reported he would be undergoing surgery to repair a ruptured Achilles tendon, HC Kevin Stefanski refused to commit to Watson as the team's starting quarterback in 2025.

"Yeah, obviously, I believe in Deshaun, but I also think it's important just to acknowledge that he has had a bad injury, you know, a bad break for him. We're feeling bad for him and know he will bounce back, but I'm not getting into all those things that are down the road. We're looking forward to him getting surgery and getting his body back," said Stefanski in response to a question about Watson's status as the QB1 for Cleveland after this season.

This is the definition of a PR response from Stefanski. This could mean a number of things - the team might be waiting to see how Watson responds to rehab and surgery to make a final decision about him, or the team might just know from watching someone like Aaron Rodgers struggle to get back to form after an Achilles rupture that Watson will come back even worse for wear than he already had this season.

As of now, Cleveland also has a top pick in the NFL Draft in 2025. The team might be taking this into consideration, as well, when determining Watson's starting status for next year. The Browns, if they keep losing, might be primed to get a chance at drafting a potential franchise QB in Cam Ward or Shedeur Sanders. That's a gamble worth exploring with Watson down but with his contract still getting paid out and causing a big cap issue for next season and beyond.

Status of Dorian Thompson-Robinson ahead of Week 8

The Browns' backup quarterback in Week 7, Thompson-Robinson, went down with a finger injury in the loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. Fortunately, it doesn't seem like this injury will be keeping the young QB out for too long.

Stefanski said in his media availability that the team still needs more information on his injury, but that he and Cleveland feel "good" about him being available to quarterback for the team this season in general. We now await the first practice injury report of the week on Wednesday to see how he's faring in recovering, but according to Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com, Thompson-Robinson is awaiting an MRI to make sure nothing is structurally wrong with his throwing hand.

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