The Cleveland Browns quarterback room is excited with the return of Deshaun Watson in practice ahead of their Week 14 matchup against the Tennessee Titans.
While rookie 5th round pick Shedeur Sanders remains the starter, he spoke on the impact Deshaun Watson will have now that he is on the practice field.
“I feel like it’s great he’s going out there to practice. I know he’s been working hard to recover and doing everything he’s able to do for this day,” Sanders said.
Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders warms up before the game against the San Francisco 49ers. | Ken Blaze-Imagn Images
Sanders responds to Watson’s return
Watson has been waiting in the wings for the Browns as he recovers from his Achilles injury suffered last season. Watson has demonstrated tremendous patience away from the spotlight for the team considering the fact he has not played since Week 7 of last season, which was nearly 14 months ago.
Since he suffered his injury, the Browns have made a lot of moves at the quarterback position, including drafting Sanders, who claims Watson has been helpful behind the scenes.
“Well, I’d say for sure, what we do in the meeting room, we keep to ourselves. Y’all able to see what we able to do in public and whatever, but whenever we in the building, we kind of keep that between us,” Sanders said.
Sanders wouldn’t get specific on how Watson has been helpful, but it appears that he has been a good teammate nonetheless.
It remains to be seen if Watson will even play for the Browns in any of their final five games of the season. There’s a good chance the Browns will want to see more from Sanders or possibly third-round pick Dillon Gabriel ahead of Watson in these final couple of weeks.
The Browns are a 3-9 football team, but are only 3 games back of the AFC North crown. It will still be a long shot for the Browns to win the division, but that might spark reason for the team to consider playing Watson in any of the final couple of games if they feel he gives them the best chance to win.
Going into the game against the Titans, the Browns feel confident that Sanders is the right quarterback to play. However, as Watson returns to practice, it should provide some pressure for Sanders to perform.
Sanders and the Browns will play the Titans on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. inside Huntington Bank Field in Cleveland.