CLEVELAND, OHIO (TheOBR.com) - Good morning, Cleveland Browns fans!
There are mornings when this nonsense nearly writes itself, which is good because your friendly neighborhood webdork is operating at roughly the same wattage as a refrigerator bulb. My stupid little yappy dog woke me up at 4:30AM for some reason, and I am pouting and being sullen about it.
She will pay the price, oh yes. Maybe there will be slightly fewer belly rubs on demand today. Slightly.
Yesterday in Berea was one of those days when it was quarterback day. Deshaun Watson spoke to reporters for the first time since October 16, 2024. That is four days before the Achilles tear against the Cincinnati Bengals that started the latest long detour in one of the strangest, costliest quarterback sagas in Browns history. Shedeur Sanders spoke, too, and did the thing young quarterbacks often do when the rest of us are pawing at the glass, yelling "QB BATTLE!"
He told us we are looking at it the wrong way.
Fair enough. We probably are. Browns fans have been staring at quarterback competitions for so long that our eyes are crossed, our brains skeptical, and our hearts dark with "show me" vibes.
WATSON, HEALTHY — AND DIFFERENT
Let's start with Watson because, frankly, that was the bigger story Wednesday.
According to Jeff Schudel of the News-Herald, Watson said after practice that this is the first time since suffering a shoulder injury in the third game of the 2023 season - almost 1,000 days ago - that he feels fully healthy. That's not irrelevant, I guess, but it also not the same thing as declaring him "back to 2020 form".
Watson himself admits this, saying, "I know everyone wants to rewind the clock back, but we can't do that. So at the end of the day, I just have to focus on being the best player I can for Deshaun Watson as a Cleveland Brown player. So that's all I'm focused on."
That's the competitive answer. That's the answer he has to give. If a quarterback who has made the money Watson has made shows up and says, "Well, I'm mostly here for the free Gatorade and vibes," you have an entirely different kind of newswire. One that I'm probably better equipped to write given my lack of enthusiasm for Watson's continued involvement with the Cleveland Browns franchise.
The Browns are not getting 2020 Watson back because nobody gets 2020 anything back. Not Watson. Not the Browns. Not me, despite my ongoing and frankly heroic efforts to convince my knees to continue to carry around my bulky frame. The question is smaller, colder, and more practical: Can Watson be good enough in Todd Monken's offense to beat out Sanders and give the Browns a competent starting quarterback in 2026?
That is it. That is the ballgame. And I'm on the record as saying that Watson should sit if the race is anywhere close to competitive.
Deshaun Watson, Shedeur Sanders
Deshaun Watson, Shedeur Sanders (Photo: USA TODAY Sports)
SHEDEUR IS NOT PLAYING OUR GAME
Sanders, meanwhile, did not sound terribly interested in feeding the competition beast.
"I think the way how y'all look at things is different than how we look at things," Sanders said after Wednesday's practice, via the ABJ's Chris Easterling. "We look at coming to practice every day, being the best player we can be as an individual and as a good teammate. Y'all look at it as like a competition. That's not really nothing I'm just focused on."
He continued: "I'm focused on developing as a player, like doing everything, getting as comfortable as I can in the offense in the scheme and playing with that confidence I had."
That is a very quarterback-y answer, but it is also the right answer from a player in his position. Sanders worked mostly with the second group on Wednesday after getting first-team work on Day 1, per the Browns' Kelsey Russo. On Tuesday, he hit Denzel Boston and Isaiah Bond for deep touchdowns in 11-on-11 periods. On Wednesday, he connected with tight ends Brenden Bates and Blake Whiteheart while working with the second team.
You can read into that if you want. We are Browns fans, so of course we will read into it. We can read into a hydration break if given enough Wi-Fi.
But the actual, verified picture is pretty simple: Monken and staff are rotating the reps, gathering information, and pushing the decision into training camp. Sanders has made progress — Monken said his progress has been "impressive," specifically his ability to move through progressions and get his feet more urgent — but Watson was also getting first-team work Wednesday and, by his own account, finally feels whole.
That leaves the Browns exactly where they were always likely to be on June 11: with an unresolved quarterback competition, two very different stories at the position, and a fan base trying to talk itself into patience while quietly chewing through drywall.
The Browns' story is whether either answer is good enough.
eSkepticism has earned its season tickets in this town. Until someone strings together drives in real games, against real pressure, with real consequences, it is all June air. Nice June air, maybe. Better than the alternative, definitely. But air.
Have a good one! GO BROWNS!
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THE LIFT
Positive news from the world of sports and beyond...
Public parks are one of those things we tend to appreciate only after someone threatens to pave one, neglect one, or rename one after a crypto exchange that will be bankrupt by Labor Day.
So here's a nice reminder from the good-news pile: a new Trust for Public Land report, covered by Good Good Good, found that every dollar invested in parks and recreation returns about $3 in local economic benefits each year. Will Klein, TPL's director of parks research, put it plainly: "People are healthier, people connect with each other. They drive business activity, especially for small businesses."
Also, it's cheaper than therapy, though your mileage may vary after watching Browns quarterback competitions.
WRAPPING UP
When not squinting at June quarterback rotations like they are sacred texts found in a Berea cave, Barry McBride is the Publisher and Founder of the OBR and bloviates this nonsense every morning. You can follow him on Twitter @barrymcbride or write him at barry@theobr.com if you are so compelled.
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