By james art
ASSOCIATED PRES
CLEVELAND — Deshaun Watson will not finish the season as Cleveland’s starting quarterback for the second year in a row.
He’s injured again and the Browns have new problems.
Watson tore his right Achilles tendon in the first half of Sunday’s loss at Cincinnati, collapsing as he started to run and prompting some Browns fans to cheer as the divisive QB lay on the ground writhing in pain.
The team feared Watson’s year was over, and tests done Monday confirmed the tear. The Browns said Watson will undergo surgery and miss the rest of the season, but “a full recovery is expected.”
Cleveland fans are divided over Watson, who has been accused of being sexually inappropriate with women.
The reaction didn’t sit well with several of Watson’s teammates, including star Myles Garrett, the reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year, who was horrified by the fans’ behavior.
“We should be ashamed of ourselves as Browns and as fans to boo anyone and their downfall. To be a season-changing and career-changing injury,” Garrett said. “Man is not perfect. It doesn’t need to be. None of us are expected to be perfect. I can’t judge him for what he does off the field or on the field because I can’t throw stones for my glass house.
“At the end of the day, everyone’s human and they’re disappointed just like us, but we have to be better than that as humans.” There are levels for this. At the end of the day, it’s just a game and you don’t boo that someone is injured and you don’t celebrate someone’s defeat.”
Watson was injured on a non-contact play in the second quarter of Cleveland’s 21-14 loss to the Bengals and was carted off the field in tears.
It’s the second major injury in two seasons for Watson, who broke the glenoid (socket) bone in his throwing shoulder last year after just six starts.
The 29-year-old went down on Sunday untouched in a late first-half draw. His right leg buckled and Watson crumpled to the grass. Television replays showed his calf rocking, consistent with an Achilles injury.
He immediately put his hands on his helmet, clearly aware of the severity of the injury, similar to the one suffered by Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers last year.
As he was assisted by the team’s medical staff and backup Dorian Thompson-Robinson grabbed a ball to start the warmup, there were jeers and boos from the stands at Huntington Bank Field.