Cleveland legend Joe Thomas says Deshaun Watson’s path back to respect in Browns colors is simple: “Go out and play better football”
Deshaun Watson has spent plenty of time hearing from Browns fans, and he seems to believe the boos are personal. But the reality, at least from plenty of Cleveland observers, is harsher and more straightforward: if Watson had played up to the cost of acquiring him, the crowd would have had plenty to cheer about.
That price tag mattered because it came with expectations that went far beyond ordinary quarterback play. A top-10 quarterback, the thinking goes, would not have let prime years from DE Myles Garrett, OL Joel Bitonio, and recently retired RB Nick Chubb go by without more to show for it.
Instead, Watson’s Browns tenure has been defined by inconsistency, poor play, and lost time. He has either looked like one of the league’s worst quarterbacks or been unavailable because of the suspension he earned and the injuries that followed.
Now he enters the final non-void year of his contract with one more shot to change the conversation. The question around him is no longer just whether he can produce, but whether he can do enough to earn his paycheck and maybe even win back some measure of trust from the fan base.
Joe Thomas, the Browns’ Hall of Fame left tackle and one of the franchise’s defining voices, doesn’t overcomplicate it. His message for Watson is blunt: “Go out and play better football” at the 3:16 mark.
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Browns QB Decision Just Raised An Uncomfortable Question
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Todd Monken made clear the call was not his alone, which only adds to the usual scrutiny around this position. With Jimmy Haslam having already acknowledged responsibility for the trade that brought Watson to Cleveland and staying involved in related decisions, the choice puts the organization back under the same spotlight that has followed it for years, with the real question now less about who starts and more about who ultimately owns the outcome. [Read more 🡒]