BEREA, Ohio — The torch has been passed and Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson began taking full first-team reps in practice Wednesday.
Watson, who is preparing for his first regular season game action in nearly two years, spent Wednesday getting reacclimated to his offense after serving an 11-game suspension for violating the NFL's Personal Conduct Policy following numerous allegations of sexual misconduct against him.
During the open portion of practice, Watson completed some strong passes, hitting his receivers right in the numbers. Those passes showcased the accuracy his teammates have raved about.
“Just from what I've seen so far is just his accuracy. He's got some pretty good accuracy, throwing some great balls in practice that I've seen," said cornerback Denzel Ward.
But Wednesday also showed some growing pains that Watson will be working through. While most of his passes were on point, numerous passes were dropped by receivers throughout the open session.
It seemed at times receivers were getting reacclimated to the zip of Watson's passes and the timing of the balls he throws. While Brissett had his own zip and strengths, Watson's passes are much different.
Those differences will require reps and time, and the Browns know that.
"I think one of the hardest things is trying to figure out what Deshaun likes and obviously it's hard whenever he hasn't—you start to see him in a game and you can start to tailor certain things," said quarterback Kellen Mond. "So this is obviously his first game back in a while. So I think in the future, certain things will start to get tailored."
The Browns are confident that with Watson under center, the offense that has for most of the season been the strength of the team, can take a leap and, perhaps, inspire the defense and special teams to continue aiming for complementary football.
Notes
Tight end David Njoku did not practice Wednesday, as he was sidelined with a new knee injury. Head coach Kevin Stefanski said that he's working through it and has not been ruled out of Sunday's game.
Meanwhile, Amari Cooper, Myles Garrett, Jadeveon Clowney, Joel Bitonio and Nick Chubb did not practice either, taking a day of rest.
Watch live and local news any time:
Download the News 5 Cleveland app now for more stories from us, plus alerts on major news, the latest weather forecast, traffic information and much more. Download now on your Apple device here, and your Android device here.
You can also catch News 5 Cleveland on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, YouTube TV, DIRECTV NOW, Hulu Live and more. We're also on Amazon Alexa devices. Learn more about our streaming options here.
