The severity of Deshaun Watson’s shoulder injury continues to be a mystery, along with how long he may be out for. Watson is battling a strain of the subscapularis within the rotator cuff — and continues to have both pain and weakness with movement in the shoulder, according to ESPN.
How long Watson may be out remains an unknown. ESPN notes the Browns quarterback is dealing with an injury that typically sidelines baseball pitchers 4-6 weeks, while NFL Network reports the team is considering Watson day-to-day and his status against the Seahawks is still to be determined after undergoing an MRI Monday. Tom Pelissero adds Watson suffered no additional damage to his throwing shoulder when he was knocked out of Sunday’s win over the Indianapolis Colts.
Will Watson end up playing Sunday? The Browns will certainly be extra cautious regarding his injury.
“I’m always going to be protective of our players, especially at the quarterback position,” Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski said. “Just felt like the right thing in that moment was to hold him out of that game.”
On Monday, Stefanski was asked if the Browns would consider placing Watson on injured reserve. He replied saying that the quarterback is day-to-day. Despite clearing concussion protocol, Watson appeared to have lingering affects from the hit Sunday. He grabbed his right shoulder after being hit, had difficulty lifting his right arm and did not attempt a pass on the sideline.
Watson finished the game 1 of 5 for five yards, this after missing multiple weeks with the shoulder injury. The Browns are 3-1 in Watson’s starts, but he has only completed 61.7% of his passes for 683 yards with four touchdowns and three interceptions (80.9 rating).
If Watson can’t go, P.J. Walker is in line to start for the second time in three games. Walker went 15 of 32 for 178 yards and an interception in Sunday’s win 51.3 rating. He has zero touchdowns and three interceptions in three starts.
