BEREA, Ohio — The Cleveland Browns are now on summer vacation, but Deshaun Watson’s rehab from November shoulder surgery will continue in the coming weeks.
Did Thursday’s final mandatory minicamp practice provide a subtle — or maybe even not-so-subtle — sign that Watson is feeling better? At the risk of making too much out of the last of the team’s 13 instruction-based spring practice sessions, we’ll stick with maybe.
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In the span of about four seven-on-seven plays on Thursday, Watson threw a 50-yard bomb on a broken play, then threw a dart of around 30 yards for an impressive completion to Jaelon Darden. Watson only threw in individual drills through the team’s organized team activity practices before progressing to seven-on-seven competitive work on Tuesday and Thursday in the just-completed minicamp.
a 50-yarder DOT @deshaunwatson x @JDFlash1x pic.twitter.com/8d1jf3Jl1g
— Cleveland Browns (@Browns) June 13, 2024
Browns coach Kevin Stefanski wasn’t making proclamations of any kind after the practice session, which is understandable given the goal of Watson throwing in every other practice this spring was for the quarterback to gain strength and confidence in his shoulder. But in downplaying the two specific throws from Thursday, Stefanski said he’d seen Watson make more vertical throws in practices that weren’t open to the media.
“I’ve said it before (that) I’ve gotten to see him throw throughout the course of this rehab,” Stefanski said. “I don’t know (exactly) when it was, but a while back, he looked very normal to me. So that looked normal to me.”
Watson said after the first minicamp practice that he’s “comfortable” making throws, and that he’ll continue to follow his doctors’ orders before the Browns open full training camp in late July. Though the obvious goal for Watson would be full clearance for camp, that’s not mandatory as he aims to use camp and the preseason to prep for Cleveland’s Sept. 8 season opener against the Dallas Cowboys.
“Deshaun has been here every day. He’s been getting better,” Stefanski said. “I got to see him really through the course of his entire rehab — through the throwing sessions off to the side, through the throwing sessions to the players, now to seven-on-seven. So, I’ve seen this improvement from him, both in terms of how he’s feeling and also just hitting those mile markers of when he’s allowed to do what he’s doing. He’s right where he needs to be, and I’m pleased with how hard he’s worked.”
The only competitive periods of the spring were the seven-on-seven sessions, which is normal for a Stefanski team, even when the quarterback is healthy. Jameis Winston was first in line on the days Watson did not throw, and after Dorian Thompson-Robinson mostly was a spectator in the OTA practices, the Browns had all four quarterbacks throwing in minicamp. Tyler Huntley was usually first up after Winston, with Thompson-Robinson being last.
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The Browns had red zone seven-on-seven sessions on both of Watson’s minicamp throwing days. Though Watson seemed to have normal velocity and an above-average completion rate in the standard seven-on-seven sessions, he went 0-for-8 between Tuesday and Thursday in the red zone. The last of Watson’s five red zone throws Thursday was intercepted by linebacker Tony Fields II.
Guessing game, sort of
In early June, Stefanski said the Browns had been alternating duties of radioing in the plays to the quarterbacks. He called that standard and said even Watson had taken turns calling plays in one of the spring practices.
Since February, Stefanski has declined to answer whether he’ll keep the play-calling duties this season or hand them over to new offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey. Stefanski had the play-calling radio on the second day of minicamp, an abbreviated practice when Watson wasn’t throwing. Dorsey had the radio on the days Watson threw.
With Amari Cooper holding out and Jerry Jeudy not participating in minicamp due to an undisclosed but believed to be minor injury, Elijah Moore and Cedric Tillman were at the front of the wide receiver lines. David Bell caught Watson’s first pass in the first seven-on-seven drill Thursday.
GO DEEPERAssessing the leverage Amari Cooper would have in contract talks with the BrownsThe Browns rotated their offensive skill players on almost every snap throughout the spring, but Jerome Ford was always first in the running back line. Even if Nick Chubb and Nyheim Hines, both of whom are recovering from torn ACLs, return for the start of training camp, expect Ford to be the lead back this summer. Pierre Strong Jr. and D’Onta Foreman will also get plenty of chances as Cleveland sorts through what could become a crowded running back room once healthy.
No spoilers
David Njoku spent May working out in South Florida, and unsurprisingly, he was a frequent target of Watson and Winston this week.
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As he’s been known to do, Njoku provided one of the most colorful quotes of a pretty bland minicamp.
“A lot of excitement (for this offense), man,” Njoku said. “I said earlier, maybe last week, that it was juicy. I stand by that 10 toes (down), so it’s very juicy. I’m just gonna leave it at that. I don’t want to say too much. It’s a juicy offense.”
4️⃣x🦁 @deshaunwatson x @David_Njoku80 pic.twitter.com/SKqfmWoo2U
— Cleveland Browns (@Browns) June 13, 2024
On the mend
Watson and Chubb getting back to full health are obviously key to the Browns reaching their offensive ceiling this fall. But even with some level of uncertainty involved with two of the team’s most important players, the Browns should have a mostly healthy team for the start of camp at the Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia in late July.
Among the key players sitting out of minicamp were Chubb, right tackle Jack Conklin (knee), left tackle Jedrick Wills Jr. (knee), Joel Bitonio (rest/undisclosed), Hines and Jeudy. Hines has said he’s eyeing the start of camp to return, and the team has said it expects Conklin to be ready for the start of the season. Wills should be cleared for the start of training camp, and offensive tackle Dawand Jones went from a limited participant in May to seeing more action in June as he also works back from season-ending knee surgery.
Wide receiver and kick returner James Proche II had a protective wrap on his leg during minicamp, and second-year cornerback Cameron Mitchell wore something similar as he also watched from the sideline. Mitchell will have a chance to win the team’s fourth cornerback job once he’s back to action, and Proche finished last season as Cleveland’s primary punt returner before signing a new one-year contract in March.
Pro Bowl cornerback Denzel Ward was given the final day of minicamp off after he was a full participant in every previous offseason practice. Ward said this week he believed he was showing good leadership by achieving perfect attendance, and the Browns rewarded him on Thursday. Reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett briefly chatted with team trainers and removed himself from a drill early in Thursday’s practice, but Stefanski said Garrett “will be fine.”
The team hasn’t yet announced dates and times for its open training camp practices in August. The first walk-through session will take place at the Browns’ regular training facility before the team flies to Greenbrier for eight days.
(Photo of D’Onta Foreman and Deshaun Watson: Jeff Lange / USA Today)
Zac Jackson is a staff writer for The Athletic covering the Cleveland Browns. He is also the host of the "A to Z" podcast alongside Andre Knott. Previously, Zac covered the Browns for Fox Sports Ohio and worked for Pro Football Talk. Follow Zac on Twitter @AkronJackson
