QB Deshaun Watson (9.23.26)
Deshaun, the other day Todd (Monken) said that he still sees you as a young player with a lot of football left. I don’t know if you guys have ever talked about that, but what does that mean to you? Do you still consider yourself a young player?
“I’m not sure. I feel like I have a lot of football left in my game, in my career, and that’s how I approach the game. That’s how I approach my preparation on and off the field. And yeah, I feel like, I’m ten years in, but still got a lot of football to play, definitely for myself.”
You’ve been very steadfast in that message since the spring. How important and big for you was that game in Tampa, to validate and have tangible proof that you still have it, and you still have that in your game?
“Because I know my preparation. I know what I put in, the time I put in, the thought, the sacrifice that I put in for that moment on Sunday. So, it was definitely a great team win. I needed everyone around me to be able to get that win. And I want to keep on improving and trying to get more. So, like I mentioned before, I love the game. I love what the game brings into this locker room as a team. And I just enjoy playing the game, and this is what I’ve been doing my whole life. So, like I said, I want to continue to play for as long as possible.”
You talked about using your legs, and Todd said Monday that you went to him and said, ‘use me,’ use that part of your game. Did it take a while for you to get comfortable after the Achilles, to be where you need to be, running the ball?
“No, I felt comfortable. really since last year when I started practicing, honestly. So, like I said, I know the preparation, the time that I put in, the work that I put in, that I trust all the people that was working with me, and I just want everyone else to trust me.”
Do you feel the fans will support you more now that they saw you win?
“I don’t know. I don’t know”
Off the route here using you as a runner, with the run-game struggles, do you think that doing that more, incorporating you more, doing more RPO or read-option-type stuff, is something that could help the run game be a little bit better just in general when you have two different players to think about?
“Definitely. I mean, yeah, I think whatever we need to do to be able to try to get the run game explosive, because we have the backs that can run, we have the people that can tote the ball and get big yards for us, and that can definitely help our offense as a whole. So, I definitely agree with you. We just have to see how the game plan kind of goes throughout each and every week and see if that is something that’s appropriate for us to be able to run on Sundays.”
What have you kind of noticed that maybe isn’t working?
“We just got to keep pushing. We got to keep getting our corners and our run fits right and just keep pushing forward and keep striving. It’s hard to run in this league. It’s hard. You look around the league and every game, there’s not too many rushing yards. So, teams are doing a good job of packing the paint, and you got to earn it.”
Deshaun, how much does it help you that your head coach has shown so much faith in you from minute one, and continues to support you at every turn, no matter what, even through some rocky spots this season? He just keeps coming out and giving you votes of confidence. What does that mean to you, to have that?
“I mean, it always means good for someone to be able to support me, to support anybody as a human. Hearing positive things, it builds confidence, it builds courage, it builds that team chemistry. It makes a person feel good. So, when you get that from the head man, the guy that’s leading this organization, this team, that means a lot.”
How do you keep all your receivers involved or happy? Jerry Jeudy had just one target last week. So as the quarterback and the leader, how do you keep everybody in cycle?
“You just got to go based off the game plan and how the defense is trying to play us. Certain plays are not really directed towards certain guys all the time, you just got to find the open guy. So, we just got to keep working, keeping him motivated. And this week can be a possibility where he has the most targets, the most yards. So, it’s just a week-to-week league.”
Deshaun, Todd is talking about you getting more comfortable with more reps and whatnot, but I’m curious, from a game planning perspective, do you guys do anything special, out of the ordinary, like on Monday or Tuesday in his office, talking about the game plan? Or do you just kind of show up on Tuesday and go from there?
“No, we definitely ask questions. I’m already, by Tuesday when I come in, really by Monday, but by Tuesday, I’m already five, six, seven games in on the next opponent, kind of skimming through the last two games and then a couple games from last year, especially their divisional games, because they played them twice. You just kind of throw out ideas. And at the end of the day, the coaching style, Trav (Travis Switzer), Monk (Todd Monken), all those guys are the ones that’s going to fit the game plan together, but you just kind of throw ideas of what you see, you feed off that, watch some tape, and just kind of hang out and just talk ball. So, no, it’s definitely something that we communicate Monday through Tuesday, and then on Wednesday, they kind of have the base down already.”
Deshaun, after the game, Denzel (Boston) talked about the alert that you gave him on that long touchdown of his, to see that changed call, and allowed him to execute the way he did. How much confidence can that give you two as a tandem, especially with him being a rookie receiver playing in his second game?
“We have smart guys. Even though those guys are rookies, those guys pay attention, they prepare, they stay locked in. We communicate throughout the week, and what I see, different looks, we meet throughout the week. So, those guys are really locked in, they put that preparation in like a professional, and he was ready for that moment, and my job was just to get him the ball, and he did the rest.”
You ended the Jacksonville game real strong, I think something like five-for-five there in the fourth quarter. Do you feel like that was something you could build on as you went into Tampa, and now, kind of can you stack the way you ended the Jacksonville game and in Tampa? Do you stack those and build even more confidence as you go into this game?
“Of course. I mean, you got to be able to stack from the previous game. You learn from the things you need to learn from, and then all the good, you continue to try to improve those and just continue to build that confidence. So, yeah, it’s another opportunity for us to be able to, starting today, build that confidence and that rhythm, and have another opportunity Sunday to try to get another big W against a good team.”
This is a good forum to address the fans, if you would like to. Is there anything you’d like to say in advance of this game to the fans?
“I mean, yeah, the biggest thing is, I don’t never try to go at war with the fans, so the biggest thing is just, ready for support, ready to feel their energy, ready to get this big dub for the city of Cleveland, and continue this great feeling that we have this week. So that’s my motto, is just keep pushing forward, finding ways to win on Sunday to take advantage of the opposing team and get a W.”
What has stood out with the Panthers’ defense so far through this part of the season?
“They don’t give up big plays. They’re big and strong up front, great, reactive, experienced linebackers. And then the secondary is very experienced, they’ve played a lot of ball together, so, they’re definitely going to make a team, make us earn every yard, and we got to make sure that we know that. We can’t give them free passes, and we got to take care of the ball, and just make sure that we take it one play at a time, because they’re going to make us earn it.”
You said after that Bills game that you didn’t know if you could get over that negative energy that fans may bring. Do you feel better equipped now, with two games under your belt, that you can, if there is any negative energy, overcome it?
“Like I mentioned before, we passed that, that’s back in the day. I don’t want to backtrack on anything, we’re moving forward. It’s great energy now, there’s great energy this week within the locker room, within the city. So, let’s continue to build on that. That’s in the past, so let’s push forward. We’re present in the moment now, we’re focusing on Carolina, coming home against a good opponent, in front of our great fans, and we wanted that energy so we can go in there and get a W.”
Has your mental preparation for this week in particular been any different than week one or week two?
“No, it’s the same. It’s the same mental prep.”
When you’re watching film, particularly early in the year, people are mixing in new stuff. How do you identify when a new wrinkle from another team is an actual tendency that you guys can depend on?
“You just got to base it off. It’s all percentages a lot of time, but every team is going to have different wrinkles. So, you kind of got to go into a game of what you kind of see, what they’re kind of based off of, and then, within the third down, different situations within the game, they’re going to have different looks. You got to try to pick it up on your base rules and sniff it out and see if they continue to do that within the game. The first couple of drives, you got to kind of try to figure out what they’re tying to do to us.”
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