Browns' Deshaun Watson on chatter around him: 'I must be pretty damn good'
Watson has only played 12 games since the 2022 season
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Deshaun Watson’s time with the Cleveland Browns has been tumultuous at best.
He was traded from the Houston Texans to the Browns amid nearly two dozen sexual assault allegations against him. He signed a five-year, $230 million contract extension upon joining the Browns and has only managed to play 12 games for the Browns because of a suspension and injuries.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Deshaun Watson, #4 of the Cleveland Browns, looks on during an OTA offseason workout at their CrossCountry Mortgage Campus on June 5, 2024 in Berea, Ohio. (Nick Cammett/Getty Images)
On Tuesday, Watson appeared to embrace the chatter around him and chalked it up to him being a "good" player.
"I don’t look at it in a negative way, I don’t look at it in a bad way," he said. "You know, each and every fan, each and every media person, they want to see me at a level that I’m capable of doing. So, that’s the standard. So, I got to make sure I hold myself to it, so, it’s not a bad thing. It’s not anything like that. I don’t get involved with people trying to rate me places where they think I’m at the bottom of the list, you know, it is what it is.
"If I was at the bottom, no one would talk about me. So obviously, if anyone is talking about me, continue to talk about me, then I must be pretty damn good."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Deshaun Watson, #4 of the Cleveland Browns, runs a drill during an OTA offseason workout at their CrossCountry Mortgage Campus on June 5, 2024 in Berea, Ohio. (Nick Cammett/Getty Images)
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The Browns’ success will hinge on the play of their quarterback, especially with Nick Chubb’s status to begin the year so up in the air.
For the money the team invested in Watson, the organization will need a return on the field. That will mean playing more than six games.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Cleveland finished 11-6 last year and awarded general manager Andrew Berry and head coach Kevin Stefanski with contract extensions.
Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson, #4, walks off the field following the Cleveland Browns game versus the Baltimore Ravens on Nov. 12, 2023 at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore. (Mark Goldman/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
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Now, it is up to the offense to play as well as the defense has played in recent years.
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