QB Deshaun Watson (10.9.24)

 

Deshaun, when it comes to your own gains, what are the things that you’re doing to take it up a notch?   

“Just settle in, just master the game plan, execute what the defense is going to try to do to us. Of course, we got to be able to adapt to any adjustments and changes. Those guys in Philly (Philadelphia Eagles) had an off week, so they had time to kind of put some things together. So, we just got to be able to follow our base rules, base core, and then adjust and make sure that if any changeups that they throw at us, we got to be ready for it and try to execute at the highest level to get some positive and play winning football.”

 

Hey, Deshaun, when you self-assess your performance against Washington (Commanders) and the previous games before that, where do you see the biggest areas where you feel like you’re just not playing to the standard that you feel like you need to play to?

“I mean, just overall, just leading this whole offense. I think everything just got to mesh in place at the right time and things got to be in the same pace. I feel like there’s been opportunities for us to be able to play winning football and hit the open guy. Maybe there was one or two things that were kind of off track that didn’t capitalize, and we didn’t capitalize on that. And then there’s been some times where as a quarterback and misreading some things or second-guessing some things. But at the same time, I think that’s part of just getting the reps and part of watching film and trying to find ways to get better each and every week. And each week is a new opportunity for us and for myself to be able to try to find out those things that I need to get better at to try to simplify the game as much as possible.”

 

After the Washington game Sunday, there was a feeling that something’s got to change because whatever you guys were doing hasn’t been working. So is something changing this week?

“You know, we’re adjusting to a lot of different things within the offense and the way we do things, but, yeah, we’re making adjustments and trying to find ways to be better.”

 

Deshaun, after the game, Washington’s Jonathan Allen said on a radio show that you looked like you weren’t confident. What do you have to say to that?

“Yeah, I mean, every time I step on the field, I just got to be able to go out there and play confident football and just go out there and do my job at the highest ability and that’s his perspective and things like that. I played against Jonathan Allen multiple times in college and in the NFL. But at the same time, when I step on the field, I am confident, and I just want to go out there and just try to play the best football I can play.”

 

When you have the protection issues that you’ve had, do you not have time to see the whole field?

“I mean, we just have to continue to be better overall, all of us. Know where my highest on my reads, know where my outlets are in that situation. But I have a lot of confidence in those guys up front that each and every week we’re going to continue to improve, and I got to be right there with them, and we know we got to be on the same page within that. So, yeah, just depending on the route concepts and the scheme and what we were trying to do.”

 

I asked you Sunday if you thought (Ken) Dorsey should be calling plays, and you said, ‘That’s a Kevin (Stefanski) question’. So I asked him and he said nothing’s going to change in that regard. Your reaction?

“I mean, we believe in Kevin. He’s been doing play calls for multiple years in this league. Two-time Head Coach (of the Year), while doing the play calling. So, there’s no faith or love lost in Kevin calling plays, we think he’s the best player-caller in the league. So, at the same time, as overall and as the leader of this offense, I got to make sure everybody’s around so we can execute those plays that he’s calling so we can show that he is that guy that we believe in and that the NFL world knows that he’s one of the best play callers in this game.”

 

Deshaun, when you look at the Eagles, what kind of challenges do they present you guys?

“Yeah, I mean, they’re a big, physical front – fast, athletic, and they just try to create as much destruction as they possibly can to get to the quarterback and the run game. So definitely another challenge for us to be able to go out there and it’s going to be fun for us to be able to go compete with those guys because that’s a fun group to compete with.”

 

The play that everyone keeps citing or using or circulating on the Internet this week is the one where you took the sack and Jerry (Jeudy) was open in the end zone. What did you see or not see on that play and is that one that you would like to have back?

“Of course. Yeah, I mentioned that. I don’t know if I mentioned after the game, but as far as with the team, yeah, out of all the plays, that’s definitely one. It was just one of the times that I missed Jerry. I don’t want to give the route away, but it was a route that he had different options for, and I second-guessed it and kind of predetermined where he was going to go and I stepped up. Bobby Wagner did a good job, came, and I fumbled it, and they recovered it. So, yeah, it’s definitely a play that I see, but, I mean, at this position, no one’s perfect. No one’s going to always make the right reads. So, you can nit-pick one play here and there. But I think it’s the body of work of the whole game. And I think that for me to be able to lead this offense to where we want to go and what we expect is just making sure that each and every play is within itself and not try to get the 21 points, I can’t remember how much we were down by, but try to get all of it back at once. Doing too much. And, yeah, I take full responsibility of that. There’s going to be plays that happen like that, every quarterback has that.”

 

Deshaun, you talk so much about blocking out the noise; 1-4 and the offensive struggles, it’s getting pretty loud, national guys criticizing you. So how do you go about continue to block that out?

“You know, I just continue to — First off, I don’t hear it, I don’t see it. I’m not on Twitter, I’m not on any social media or things like that. So anytime that stuff comes up, the only time I first hear it is either you guys are bringing it up or somebody else outside. And I just don’t know who it’s coming from. So that’s one thing. And then also it’s just, it’s a new opportunity, it’s a new week, you know what I’m saying? Like, those guys are seeing it from a different perspective. We know what we need to do internally, and that’s the difference, is being able to be the best that I can be within the offense and within the team and knowing that the guys and the coaches in this locker room, knowing exactly what I’m doing with my job. And sometimes it goes our way, sometimes it doesn’t. So, yeah, I mean, for the outside people and the media, it might be loud, but for myself, I got to make sure I’m locked in and trying to do whatever I can to get all of us on the same page to play winning football.”

 

Deshaun, the Eagles defense has given up some explosive plays. So you talked after the game about wanting to be an explosive offense and finding that balance between the run and the pass game. How do you find that balance? I guess what’s kind of the key to finding that?

“I think it starts with just being positive. I mean, we got to have positive plays and finding that rhythm within the game to know when we need to pass and when we need to run the ball. The shots are going to present itself, and we just got to be ready for it. And not just one person, not just a quarterback, not just a receiver. And a quarterback doesn’t see the shots of what the play me and Mary Kay (Cabot) was talking about, but we just all just got to see and make sure because this year especially, it’s hard to get those plays downfield, and teams are taking that away. So you just got to find that balance within the team, find that rhythm and whenever they present itself, we got to make sure we take advantage of it.”

 

Hey Deshaun, the latest civil lawsuit got resolved off the field. Are you confident that there won’t be any punishment from the league?

“I’m just taking my advice from all my legal team and everyone else. I have to take it one day at a time. I haven’t spoken to the NFL or anything like that. I was just taking my legal counsel’s advice, and then I’m focusing on just trying to be the best quarterback for this team so we can get back on the winning track.”

 

What about your teammates, what kind of feedback are you getting from your teammates? What kind of support? What are they telling you about how things have gone so far?

“I mean, they just telling me that, ‘Hey, I mean, you still one of the top guys in this league, believe that’, ‘Have that confidence when you step on the field’, ‘Lead us to where we need to go’, ‘We all support you’, ‘We all are motivated for what you bring to this table’, ‘We know that things got to click overall’, ‘Everything got to work in place’. So, yeah, all those guys is making sure that I’m keeping my head up, staying locked in and focused and not getting down on myself and not being too hard on myself. And at the end of the day, I just have to continue to just put in that work and trust them, trust myself and go out there and perform at a high level.”

 

I think after the game you said something about ‘We have to find out what we’re good at’ and kind of perfect that. Have you guys been able to identify some things offensively you can lean into for a game plan or for just going into a weekend that, ‘Okay, we do these things really well and let’s concentrate on those’?

“Yeah, I mean, definitely that goes back to what we were speaking on earlier, is just kind of just finding those adjustments, finding those things that we want to do and be perfect at those. And just make the game simple, don’t try to do anything more than what we seen before or what we are trying to do. We just simplify the game as much as possible so we can go out there, execute and play fast and not put too much thinking into the game.”

 

So, do you feel like in this past game, because you were coming off a really good game against the (Las Vegas) Raiders, in this Washington game, do you think you sort of slipped into trying to do a little bit too much or a little bit more than you needed to do?

“Maybe you could say that. You could say I was trying to do too much, trying to make the big plays, trying to create things where I didn’t need to create things. But at the same time, it’s just the flow of the game and how the game kind of goes. They got up on us fast and we were trying to get back in the game as soon as possible because in the NFL every rep and every possession that you have is very important. And, yeah, I think that we just got to simplify and just take it one play at a time. We got to concentrate and lock in and just have that confidence on that play that we’re going to give 110% and then we’ll worry about the next play when it comes.”

 

Last year you guys were playing with so much swagger and it seems like this year you guys are kind of, not timid, but kind of a little tentative, especially in your guys’ personalities, not shining through as much. Do you feel like there needs to be an attitude change within that locker room to get this turned around? 

“No, I don’t think it needs to be an attitude change. I just think that we just got to win and that’s what it is. You know, no one wants to — You can’t bring any swagger, you can’t talk any, you know what I’m saying. You can’t talk or say anything if you’re losing. You know, we’re 1-4 right now. So right now, we got to lock in on the game. But once we get on that winning track and we start winning some games, and things will start turning, and the arrows start going up, then, yeah, you can kind of have that swagger and fun. But at the same time each and every week, you got to put the wins and losses to the side, and you got to try to be 1-0 that week. So, there is some type of confidence and booster that you got to have stepping on the field and have your own swagger. You can’t change yourself regardless of what is going on around you. But at the same time, that winning does bring out that ooze and that aura within the team.”

 

Early on at The Greenbrier, when you guys were installing everything, it seemed like there was a lot more up-tempo stuff. What is preventing that from being in on Sundays?

“I mean, it’s just the rhythm of the game, I would think. I think this is more of the coaches’ kind of question. But I think, if I had to answer, just the rhythm of the game, we got to catch that flow, we got to stay positive. We got to get a first down on the first drive or when we P&10, we got to get that first first-down before we can catch that rhythm. And we just got to make sure we do that before we can play on the ball and play up-tempo.”