Deshaun Watson watched the Browns’ four-way quarterback battle while doing his rehab work this offseason. It is still too soon to know when he will return after tearing his Achilles a second time and undergoing another surgery Jan. 10.
Watson will miss most, if not all, of 2025, leaving the job to Kenny Pickett, Joe Flacco, Dillon Gabriel or Shedeur Sanders.
Watson, though, [has been involved](https://archive.ph/H20wJ#selection-305.0-336.0) inside the quarterbacks room, especially with mentoring Gabriel and Sanders, Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com reports.
“He’s been a guy I’ve connected with as well, and he’s actually a guy I sit by in our O-line meetings, even in our offensive unit meetings,” Gabriel said during minicamp, via Cabot. “So just being able to be around him and nudge him and ask a question, whether it’s for confirmation or his thought, but also when we’re talking through concepts, I think it’s super cool that we do have five guys in the room that kind of can speak to their own experience and even Deshaun this morning, talking through a concept and kind of how he sees it in the red area. It can change the play in a big way, just how you think of it. So appreciate him a bunch, too. Just sharing all his knowledge.”
Watson has been throwing to Browns receivers, including Jerry Jeudy and David Bell, since last month without a walking boot, per Cabot. But his biggest contribution has been as a cheerleader and a sounding board for the other four quarterbacks.
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