Watson keen to start again, downplays Haslam jab

BEREA, Ohio -- Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson said Wednesday it is "very important" to get an opportunity to start again after a pair of Achilles surgeries that have sidelined him since October 2024. Watson spoke to local reporters after Cleveland's second day of mandatory minicamp, marking his first comments since he ruptured his right Achilles tendon on Oct. 20, 2024. "I think each and every person that walks into the locker room should have that mindset that you want to start in this league," Watson said. "That's why we show up each every day, to be able to go out there and be able to perform on Sundays or whatever that day is. So yeah, it's definitely the main focus of why I work hard to be able to come back." Watson, 30, is now healthy after he underwent a second surgery in January 2025 to repair another rupture of his Achilles that ultimately kept him out of the 2025 season. Entering the fifth and final year of his fully guaranteed $230 million contract, Watson is competing with second-year player Shedeur Sanders to be the Browns' starting quarterback. Watson, a three-time Pro Bowler with the Houston Texans, is trying to rewrite a disappointing tenure in Cleveland that has been beset by injuries and poor play. Since the Browns traded three first-round picks to Houston for him in March 2022, Watson has been limited to just 19 games because of suspension and injuries. Since making his debut in Cleveland, Watson has registered a 33.1 QBR, which would rank last among qualifying passers if he played enough to qualify. After a pair of season-ending surgeries -- he also underwent shoulder surgery in November 2023 -- Watson said he is "fully healthy" and hasn't been 100% since first injuring his shoulder in the Browns' Week 3 game against the Titans in 2023. "It was a lot of ups and downs," Watson said of his rehab. "I learned a lot about myself. Learned that [I] just got to be patient. Just keep working, keep pushing forward. But I've always kind of had that mentality since I was a kid growing up. So it wasn't anything new for me. The situation and environment was probably new, just being with the type of injuries that I had. But outside of that, I just keep pushing forward. That's how life goes. Life is going to continue to go on. So yeah, it's been tough, but at the same time, I was able to grow and learn." Watson began his tenure in Cleveland by serving an 11-game suspension and paying a $5 million fine after more than two dozen women accused him of sexual assault and inappropriate conduct during massage sessions. Two Texas grand juries declined to pursue criminal charges against Watson a week before his trade to Cleveland, but he served his suspension and completed a treatment program after the NFL and the NFL Players Association reached a settlement in August 2022 on his disciplinary matter. When Watson tore his Achilles in the Week 7 game against the Cincinnati Bengals at Huntington Bank Field, scores of Browns fans cheered. Watson said he "had emotions at the time, but you grow out of it." Watson also downplayed owner Jimmy Haslam calling the Browns' trade for Watson a "big swing-and-miss" in March 2025. "The relationship is great," Watson said. "Dee, Jimmy, they were at my wedding. We talk all the time. He calls me whenever. It happens and things like that. One of my favorite baseball players that I've been watching is Bryce Harper. Sometimes he swings, but he stands back up, and he gets another opportunity, and he hits a home run. "So you never know what opportunity might show up, and that's what I have right now." Sanders spoke about the ongoing quarterback competition, saying he's not viewing it as such. "Y'all look at it as like a competition. That's not really nothing I'm focused on," Sanders said. "I'm focused on developing as a player, doing everything, getting as comfortable as I can in the offense and the scheme and playing with that confidence I had." Sanders also said he appreciates Todd Monken's vocal coaching style and views it similarly to his father, Pro Football Hall of Famer and Colorado coach Deion Sanders. "Seems like something familiar I was used to," Sanders said. "He seems like a guy that I'm real familiar with. So I enjoy it. I definitely like his expectations he has for us, and he gives you no choice but to be great or to get out the way. I think it's just that simple."