CLEVELAND, Ohio — Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson took questions from reporters on Wednesday at CrossCountry Mortgage Campus regarding the Amari Cooper trade, the receiving corps, and more.
Below is the transcript as provided by the Browns media relations department:
How nice is it going to be able to hand the ball to number 24 (Nick Chubb)?
“Super, super nice. To be able to have his presence, his energy, his work ethic, and just to have Chubb in the backfield. He definitely means a lot, not just for this offense, but for this community and this organization. So definitely that excitement and hopefully that spark that we need to take it to another level.”
You guys are motivated by a lot of things, but what is it like to see it — how inspiring is it to see a guy like that work that hard to get back after a second major surgery on his knee?
“Yeah, I mean, it’s super exciting. But we know that the work from day one of last year that he was going to put in that work. He looked all of us in our eyes and said that he wanted to be back, and he’ll probably tell you that he wanted to be back a little bit sooner. But protocol is definitely key and health. So, I think it’s the perfect time for us to get him back, coming back home, divisional rival, and get him some touches and let him get back to playing football again.”
What are your feelings about the Amari (Cooper) trade?
“The biggest thing is, of course, Coop is my brother. These last three years, we got to know each other, not just on the field, but especially off the field; hanging out in the off season, our families hanging out with each other. He helped me through some tough times that I was dealing with and vice versa. So, it’s definitely tough to see a brother and see a teammate that means a lot, not just for myself, but for the locker room, get traded away. But you got to trust the organization and what AB (Andrew Berry) and Kevin (Stefanski) and those guys upstairs have planned, and that’s out of my control. But at the same time, we’re definitely going to miss him, and we appreciate everything he brought for this team and this organization.”
On the field, why do you think that you guys were just never able to form that connection through the first six games of the season?
“I mean, that’s how the game goes sometimes. Sometimes you have some games, you have some games that don’t. Teams scheming up differently, new system and just trying to find that rhythm. And, yeah, it just didn’t go that way the first couple games.”
Doesn’t the trade make your job even a little tougher going forward?
“I mean, I trust all the guys in that room, and I trust the plan that Kevin and Ken (Dorsey) are going to create for us to be able to go out there and execute and try to put up points to win and play winning football.”
Now that you’re into the work week, what gives you confidence that you guys can get better results this game?
“I’m always confident. You got to have confidence stepping on the field. If you don’t have no confidence, there’s no reason for you to be out there on the field. So, the biggest thing for us is just to continue to try to master this plan and go out there and play hard and try to execute at a high level. This is NFL football, so every Sunday is an opportunity for us to get better and go get a W.”
Do you feel like the trade sends a bad message to the rest of you guys who are here trying to win that they’re willing to get rid of one of your best players?
“Man, that’s part of the business, I mean, at the end of the day. So, for me, it’s not a bad message. I’ve been in this league for eight years and I’ve seen it happen over time. So, it’s whatever what the front office and organization feel is best for, I guess, the organization and for that player. So, for me it’s part of the business and it’s part of how this world kind of goes. So, you got to control what you can control and accept it.”
Do you think that the relationship between Amari and the front office really was too fractured after the Brandon Aiyuk trade rumors earlier this year?
“I have no idea. I didn’t speak on that. I didn’t get involved with any of that.”
Do you feel like Amari, admittedly, wasn’t having his best season? He struggled, especially in the first two games, that he wasn’t really practicing as hard or as well as he should have. After some of that trade stuff or whatever, do you feel like he was 100% giving his all to this football team during the week and on game day?
“Oh, for sure. I mean, Coop is not going to step on the field if he’s not going to give 110%. And he came in every day, he worked hard, he never complained, he was around his teammates, he was joking and laughing. When we had some free time, he was hanging out with guys, hanging out with all of us. He would go out there, he would teach the younger guys what they needed to be taught. So, there was never no bad energy or bad vibes when Amari was in this building. So, like I mentioned before, he was a big part of this locker room, part of this leadership that we had on this team. He was a big part of this organization these last couple years and he’s going to be a great addition for Buffalo. And like I said, we’re going to miss him, and I wish we could have stuck it out the rest of the year and we never know what could have happened, but it’s all going to be good for sure.”
Did anything from that last game give you encouragement that the offense is starting to turn around?
“I mean, every week we have encouragement. We have flashes and things like that. It just comes down to the self-inflicted things that we keep speaking on each and every week. So, we got to continue to just, whatever we’re going to do, find ways to not shoot ourselves in the foot when we get down and when we get a chance to score points and especially at the end of the games. I think the last three, four games have come down to that drive and we just haven’t finished those drives and we came so close.”
And then just to follow, what can you as a quarterback do to tell your offensive lineman, ‘don’t false start’, rather than saying, ‘don’t false start’?
“I don’t know. I think you just answered that question for me (laughing).”
Does throwing it vertically more need to be part of the improvement? Do you guys need to throw it down the field more?
“Yeah, I mean, that’s the tricky part. Teams, they try to show a lot of shell. I think last week was the first time where we’ve seen a little bit less posts, they got one high. But yeah, that’s something that we haven’t done this year, and we need to do a little bit more, for sure. But that comes with time and repetition and actually doing it, like you mentioned. So, we’ll see how the game plan kind of folds out. And if teams want to come up and play us in a lot more man like we’ve been seeing, then we’re going to have to do that.”
Have you seen enough out of guys like Jerry (Jeudy), and Elijah (Moore) and Cedric (Tillman) to think you guys can fill that void and how do you get them, I guess to take that next step?
“Most definitely. I think I’ve seen that. I know that each one of those guys and the rest of those guys are capable of making big plays for this organization and for this team. And the biggest thing is just really be able to build that confidence, build that relationship that I had with Coop and some of the other guys that we had here before and just keep telling them, ‘hey, play fast, play smart, know what to do, and then whenever the opportunity comes, just be ready for that ball.’ And once we can do that, then I think anything can happen and anything can be special.”
It seems like you guys, or the offense in general, didn’t necessarily adapt quickly enough to the whole new spread, the RPO schemes and all the different new things that you guys were trying to do. Would it be helpful to you and everyone else if you guys can dial some of that back and just really focus on the things that have worked for you in the past, even here?
“No, I don’t think we should shy away from anything that we’ve been doing. I think that we need to master the things that we are doing that we are great at. And for us to be able to do that, we have to all be locked in on the plan and not just the players, but the coaches also. And I think we get on that same page, and we’ve been building toward that each and every week. And I think that we have those opportunities, and we have those flashes just might be a little bit, slip up here and there. Each and every week we always have one or two plays that could have went our way and we would be having a different conversation. But we are what we are for whatever reasons. And you have to sit back and watch the tape and find out those things that, ‘okay, what are we having success with? How can we continue to do these things and be positive and do it effectively with different guys in different positions?’ So, yeah, I don’t think we should try to go back to what we’ve been doing previously. It’s a new offense, it’s a new year. So, we have to just lock in on what the plan is now.”
What do you like about Elijah Moore? Is he somebody that you feel there’s so much more that he has to offer. Are you looking forward to maybe really getting him a lot more involved?
“Yeah, it’s a great chance for him to have that opportunity; get more targets, have opportunities to be able to step up one-on-one matchups and show what he is, and I believe in what I’ve seen he’s capable of doing. And we’re super excited for that and I think he’s super excited for the opportunity, also?”
Do you think people underestimate how good this wide receiving corps can be moving forward even without Amari?
“I mean, yeah, they’re going to do that because we haven’t been able to show those results like we wanted to. So, we got to go out there and prove it. At the end of the day, we can’t just look on paper. We can’t just talk about it. We got to go out there and show what we can. And this is a great opportunity because it’s the next opportunity for us to be able to show that. And I think those young guys and the guys that haven’t been able to play a lot, that’s going to get those opportunities, I think they’re super excited and motivated to be able to show that.”
So, this being the first division game of the year, are the coaches preaching like this is the restart of our season right here?
“Not so much the restart, but it’s a new start. It’s another opportunity, each and every week you’re 0-0. You’re just trying to be 1-0 by the end of Sunday. And if we can do that, then we just got to take it from there. We understand that it’s a divisional game. We understand that it’s a good (Cincinnati) Bengals team that is coming in here. They just got a victory on the road, playing real good football. But at the same time, we got to focus on us mastering what we can do great and then knowing our opponent so we can go out there and execute against them.”
I know he’s a friend of yours, Mike Williams might be available now that the (New York) Jets traded for Davante Adams. Is he somebody that you would maybe like to bring on board and see if he can help you guys?
Again, that’s AB, Kevin and those guys up front. But, if it happened, of course. I love Mike. That’s my dog, that’s my boy, and he’s definitely a great addition. But again, that’s more for AB and Kevin.”
Roger Goodell said yesterday that the league’s still reviewing your case from the latest lawsuit. Have you met with the league?
“I have not.”
Have you heard from them?
“I have not.”
