Deshaun Watson has not taken a snap since Nov. 12, 2023, when his second season with the Cleveland Browns effectively ended after just six game appearances. More than six months later, the quarterback has yet to resume full on-field participation, with head coach Kevin Stefanski revealing Wednesday that Watson is throwing "every other day" to start the Browns' organized team activities.
"He's making great progress, and we will just continue to follow the medical team on this," Stefanski told reporters. "But he looks like himself. ... We're rotating days for now. That will change as we get into minicamp, as obviously we get into training camp. But for right now, he'll be throwing every other day."
Watson, 28, underwent surgery to repair a displaced fracture in his throwing shoulder just over a week after his last game action in the 2023 season. He said in January that he anticipated he'd be cleared to start throwing around April, echoing general manager Andrew Berry, who predicted Watson would be ready for spring workouts. This followed comments last fall that suggested he might be able to throw again starting in January.
Stefanski and Co. have maintained they expect Watson to be fully ready for the start of the 2024 season. But uncertain recovery timelines have been a recurring theme with the former Houston Texans signal-caller. Limited to six games in his 2022 Browns debut following a suspension for alleged off-field misconduct, the quarterback started the first three games of 2023, only to abruptly miss Week 4 with a rotator cuff strain. He proceeded to miss three of the following four games, while exiting the other contest after just five passes, and later landed on season-ending injured reserve following a two-game return in November.
In Watson's absence at practice, the Browns are divvying reps between new backups Jameis Winston and Tyler Huntley, as well as 2023 fifth-round draft pick Dorian Thompson-Robinson.
