JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Deshaun Watson had one of the worst weekends of his life when he lost his father last Friday and one of his best friends on Saturday heading into the opener against the Cowboys.
He refused to use it an excuse, but Watson had one of the most abysmal games of his career during Sunday’s 33-17 trouncing, throwing two interceptions and and earning a 51.1 rating for second-lowest in his career, not counting the 0.0 in his one quarter of play against the Colts last year.
Sacked six times and drilled a total of 17 in a collective offensive meltdown, Watson was unable to operate the new scheme effectively, and the Browns fell behind 20-3 at the half, 27-3 in the third and 33-10 in the fourth.
But the biggest blow of all came the next day, when a new civil suit was filed against him in Houston by attorney Tony Buzbee, with the plaintiff accusing him of sexual assault during a date at her apartment on Oct. 10, 2020 when he played for the Texans, and seeking $1 million in damages.
Buzbee is the attorney who represented 25 massage therapists who sued Watson for sexual misconduct, with 23 of them settling, one dropping the suit, and one pending. A 26th suit was filed against him in Oct. of 2022 by a different attorney, Anissah Nguyen, after he had served his 11-game suspension and paid his $5 million under the NFL’s Personal Conduct Policy, a punishment that was negotiated by the NFL and NFL Players Association. He also underwent extensive mandatory treatment for what the NFL deemed was sexual assault.
Watson strongly denied the new allegations, stating in his Wednesday press conference that he found out about them on Monday when everyone else did. His lawyer, Rusty Hardin, released a statement saying in part that he’s “comfortable he will ultimately be vindicated.”
The NFL launched an investigation led by Lisa Friel, their Special Counsel for Investigations, who also headed up the probe that resulted in Watson’s suspension and fine. Per the agreement, any new cases arising from alleged incidents during that time frame that are the same or substantially similar to the others are covered under the previous sanctions, but the NFL will determine if this falls outside of that purview. On Thursday, Buzbee said he plans to have his client interview with the NFL in two weeks, and that he has video ‘pertinent’ to the case.
Meanwhile, the Browns stand by Watson and plan to rally around him for a victory Sunday here against the 0-1 Jaguars.
“That’s what we’ve always done, close ranks and taking care of our guys, no matter who it is,” Myles Garrett, a team captain, said Friday. “So we’re going to continue to have his back completely and help him get through everything he’s dealing with. He’s had a lot of different personal hardships currently, so we’re going to be there for him as much as we can and be that shoulder to lean on and take care of them as brothers on Sunday.”
The strong show of support began when Watson lost his father, Don Richardson, on Friday, and his close friend and former Clemson teammate Diondre Overton on Saturday to a fatal shooting. Mostly estranged from his father, Watson was still hit hard by the loss. The Browns gave him the option of going home last weekend, but he wanted to face the Cowboys.
“We talked when we met as leaders,” Garrett said. “We all spoke and he really opened up to us and felt like that was really a moment to connect and get to know him and him to get to know us, how we were going to react to him as a family and feeling that support and opening up to his support system. I feel like it really, really enables him to come to us if anything else ever happens, whether that’s football-related or not, knowing that we have his back and I was willing to share some of my experiences, whether it’s from familial personal experience or from playing the game. There’s been hardships all around and I wanted him to know that he’s not going through this alone and we’ve all dealt with our own problems and we will continue to support him.”
Denzel Ward, another team captain, came out in strong support of Watson in the wake of the allegations.
“There’s a lot of negativity and hate in this world and I think you’ve got to wrap your arms around people and express more love and you don’t know what a lot of people go through out here,” Ward said. “We all go through our own things and stuff like that and things happen, but I’m sure they’ll take care of things legally and stuff like that, and people don’t know full stories of everything. But there are no distractions at all on our side.”
Receiver Amari Cooper also vowed the allegations won’t present a distraction on Sunday.
“I mean in life we all go through things like an old head veteran told in my rookie year, whatever you’re going through off the field, once you cross those lines out there, you just leave it at home, focus on football,” he said. “So I think the veterans on this team do a pretty good job at doing that.”
Cooper rejected the widespread narrative coming off the Cowboys debacle that Watson, who hasn’t played a full season since 2020 and is coming of surgery to repair his fractured shoulder and torn labrum, is broken and finished. What makes him confident he’ll rebound?
“Because I know him,” he said. “When he first got here, I didn’t really know him, I just knew of him. Now I know him, I know his personality, I know his standard. He’s his biggest critic. He’s a great player. The game comes with ebbs and flows. It comes with ups and downs. Last week wasn’t a good week for any of us and that’s just part of the game. Like I just mentioned earlier, people tend to overreact, the media sensationalizes things, especially a star quarterback of any team. So it’s just an overreaction. But that’s the great thing about this game. You get another week to go out there and prove yourself. So that’s what we’re all looking forward to.”
Safety Grant Delpit pledged his unwavering commitment to Watson this week.
“Listen, man, I know he has lot on his plate,” he said. “We come in this building, we come here to work, and we come here to execute what we’ve got to do. I let him know, man, ‘I’ve got your back no matter what, man. And as long as you play for this team and as long as these guys — you’re in this locker room with us, and even after that I would never do anything to hurt you or even go against you.’ That’s my quarterback. And I would imagine yourself in a situation, nobody knows what he’s really going through, nobody knows the real details, but I got my quarterback’s back.”
Right guard Wyatt Teller, who lamented the fact that the line couldn’t do more to protect Watson against the Cowboys and that the whole team contributed to the loss, is rooting for him to come back strong on Sunday.
“That’s my quarterback,” he said. “I want him to be the MVP. I want him to be the best he can be. I want him to have success and find it because it would shut up a lot of the naysayers too.”
Watson said on Wednesday that he’s heard from Browns ownership and GM Andrew Berry that “they tell me each and every day that they support me, and they’ve got my back and that they want me to focus on being the best quarterback I can be. That’s all I can do is just speak my truth, tell them the truth.”
He said he didn’t feel the need to have a conversation with his teammates in the wake of the new civil suit.
“No, because they know my character,” he said. “They see me each and every day. They know exactly who I am and I think that’s the difference. When you’re around me each and every day, you know my aura, you know my energy, you know my character, I think you’ll understand who I really am.”
As far as bouncing back from one of the worst games of his career and proving he’s not finished, Watson noted that the new offense is a work in progress. It won’t get any easier Sunday against the likes of premier pass-rushers Josh Hines-Allen, Travon Walker and Arik Armstead. What’s more, he’ll be without starting left tackle Jed Wills Jr. and likely Jack Conklin again too, with James Hudson III probably making his second career start at the position.
“New pieces, new guys, first live football together,” Watson said. “It’s going to take time. A lot of times if you haven’t been with the guys for multiple years, especially the core group of skill guys, then it’s going to take a little bit to figure out what is everyone good at, what are we good at, what is the identity that we want to put out there on the field? It might take a couple weeks and we might find our identity this week. It’s a great opportunity for us to go out there and test ourselves against a very good opponent in Jacksonville in a great environment and try to get a W.”
