QB Deshaun Watson (10.21.26)
Deshaun, we didn’t get the invite to the party this week?
“Nah, nah.”
How’d it go?
“It was good. We had a good time. The guys, the fellas, had a good time, so it was a good night, most definitely.”
Did you have that planned, or was that more of a victory party, or had that been planned for a bit?
“I mean, we’ve been talking about it for a while, and the guys have been wanting to come by the house, and I think the timing was just everything. And then after the game, they were just like, ‘Party at Four’s crib.’ So, I just made it happen.”
What do you think that does for the camaraderie of the team?
“I mean, it’s great. I mean, we’re hanging outside of the building, getting to know each other, playing cards, just hanging out, talking ball, talking about life, getting to know each other. So, it was really cool. It was good. The guys always know that my house is always open, so whenever they want to come by and hang out, we can do it every week. So, it’s really just the timing of everything and when guys are free.”
Do you think that this team is maybe closer than other Browns teams that you’ve been on, just in terms of the brotherhood and the camaraderie that’s kind of going on here?
“Yeah, I really only get to say this year and ’23 was kind of the closest teams that I’ve been a part of. ’22, I was gone the majority of the year, and then ’24, same thing, with my Achilles. So ’23 and then last year, I was around a little bit, but not much, rehabbing. But this is definitely one of the closest teams I’ve been on for a while.”
What do you think happens first, the wins or the closeness?
“I mean, closeness. We’ve been building this chemistry and this bond, the love, since the spring. This isn’t the first time we’ve hung out. It’s just the first time we kind of got put out. But we’ve been hanging out since spring, guys have been hanging out with each other, going to dinner, going to sporting events, different activities outside of the building. So, we’ve been hanging out for a long time, it’s just now getting noticed.”
How does that start, Deshaun? What is the genesis of that closeness?
“I mean it just starts just being around each other, guys talking, guys hanging out, guys just asking about each other’s background and just that fun, that friendship and that bond. So, I think it’s just the team and the chemistry that just kind of starts in a locker room.”
But sometimes, not you guys, a team is together and they don’t have that closeness. So why is this one different?
“I don’t know. I’m blessed over my career and my years that I haven’t been a part of that. So, I’m not sure.”
How do you get on to a faster start? How do you do it yourself and the entire offense?
“Well, we just got to continue to stack plays. Just overall, we just got to execute, try to get the first first down and then just go from there, and then just try to put drives together and try to take advantage of what they’re doing early on.”
When you look back at that first half against Baltimore, were there plays to be made that you guys didn’t make?
“Most likely, yeah. There’s always plays there. But you’ve got to give Baltimore credit of trying to manage us. There were some things that we just didn’t take advantage of, and it happens. We just got to adjust, and we adjusted in the second half, and the defense did a good job keeping us in, and towards the end we capitalized when we needed to.”
I guess off of that, Deshaun, you talked about letting it rip a little more in the second half after the game. How do you kind of balance being willing to do that, but also still trying to sort of prioritize protecting the football? I know we asked you about that at training camp. You pass it like a training camp. You know, you can get away with more in practice. But how do you do that in a game setting?
“You just got to pick your spots. You got to know the situations. That’s when, like you said, in training camp you can kind of let it free and try different things. But in the games, you got to know the situation, how the game, how the flow is going. They’re up 10 zero and defense is playing well. So, you don’t want to try to do too much where you put the defense back on their heels. They’ll just kind of play into that. So, that’s complementary football and playing the field position, playing that chess match. And at times it’s going to happen when you know those spots are going to open up and that’s what happened in the fourth.”
In your four game-winning drives, you haven’t been in all-out two-minute tempo, but there is an urgency. So, would you like to have that urgency earlier? Maybe go into tempo earlier in a game to get the offense moving a little bit?
“I’m just playing what we have in front of us, man. So, I’m not trying to do anything extra. That’s up to Coach Monk (Todd Monken), what he wants to do at tempo. But for me, my job is to just go execute the plan that’s called and get us in the right place so we can try to get more points and more yards.”
But are you comfortable doing tempo?
“I’m comfortable doing anything.”
How about you and Harold (Fannin Jr.) and you guys maybe trying to get something more going between the two of you? Why do you think it hasn’t necessarily been there yet the way that you want it to, at least for the last couple of games?
“I mean, again, it’s what I say every week. It depends on how the defense is playing us, and we only have one football. We got a lot of skilled guys that can make plays. (Denzel) Boston, Jerry (Jeudy) been coming along, KC (Concepcion Jr.), and then we got Harold. So, that’s four different guys and one football. So, you got to pick your spots depending on the play call and what the defense is presenting. And you got to find the open guy and find the right guy with the ball. So, it just depends on the game.”
You guys are, I think, two of nine together for nine yards, or something like that, over the past two weeks. It’s not really, I think, what you guys would want it to be. So even when you are trying to connect, it just really kind of hasn’t happened. Is it just a matter of you guys working together more?
“I mean, yeah, that happens over the course of the game. Again, everything is over the course of the game. I would like to be nine for nine, but at the end of the day, sometimes, it doesn’t happen that way. So, you continue to build. It’s our first year working together, working with each other, so that time and timing and chemistry is just going to continue to get better.”
Deshaun, we ask you all the time about these game-winning drives that you’re putting together. I guess how do you get that earlier in the game more consistently? Is it a matter of just in that moment you’re on or you’re more decisive, less conservative, or what’s different about those fourth quarter drives versus early in the game when you’re going through those ebbs and flows of the three-and-outs and punting and things like that?
“Again, I keep saying it’s just the course of the game. Guys play differently in those two-minute drills. So, defensive schemes and the way they play and the play calls are a little bit different, because it’s two-minute drill. So, defense might be more conservative, they might be more aggressive. So, they’re playing their part too. They’re up in the game, and they might try to play conservative. So, they try to keep everything underneath the coverage, so they’re not giving up big plays. So again, it’s the course of the game, and that’s just how the game kind of plays out.”
This Titans defensive line, of the teams you’ve already faced, where do they sort of fall? Specifically, the challenge that Jeffery Simmons presents in terms of providing that inside pressure.
“Yeah, I mean, it’s a really good defensive front. Very aggressive, very active. I’ve been playing against Simmons since my Houston days, so we have a lot of history going back. And he’s a very, very game wrecker, and he makes that defense go. So, we definitely have to make sure we watch out for him and just make sure that we control him as much as possible to get the ball out.”
You’ve mentioned Jerry a couple times. In that locker room celebration, it seemed like the teammates were really happy for him that he had the game he did and got the game ball. What is it about Jerry that allowed him to kind of fight through a tough year, and then for everybody to be so happy for him?
“He’s a true professional. He comes in each and every day, head up, smiling, encouraging everyone, encouraging himself, and he just puts the work in. He knew his opportunities were going to come, and it’s been there. He’s been able to take advantage of it. Everyone sees it. So that’s why you see the love and the happiness for the team because everyone sees the type of person he is off the field, but also the type of teammate and the work he puts in. Everyone loves to see the success that he’s having.”
You and Jerry have developed a timing chemistry in both on and off the field it seems. Does some of that come from you guys working so much together in the offseason in Miami? It seems like you guys have it.
“Yeah, I mean, we have a great bond. I’ve been around Jerry for the last three years. Just the chemistry and understanding how he runs routes and what he likes and what he doesn’t like, it’s been awesome. So, our relationship, our friendship has been getting stronger each and every year, and I’m just happy that he’s having success and we’re going to continue to improve and be better.”
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