Browns Committed to Making A Big Deshaun Watson Mistake

After two straight preseason losses, the Cleveland Browns prepare for their preseason finale against the Seahawks in Seattle on Saturday. Unlike the games against Minnesota and Green Bay, head coach Kevin Stefanski has been planning to play the starters, including Deshaun Watson, in that game.

Even though it is understandable that the team would want to see Watson in action before their season-opener against the Cowboys on September 8, this is an unnecessary risk for the recovering Watson.

"I mean, the plan is for Deshaun to play. Obviously, I take in all the information week-to-week, day-to-day, but that is the plan."

- Browns HC Kevin Stefanski

Watson hasn't played in an NFL game since November after undergoing shoulder surgery. It makes sense to get him some reps with his teammates before throwing him into the regular season fire. However, injuries to the offensive line complicate things for Cleveland.

The Browns are already missing starting left tackle Jedrick Wills Jr. and right tackle Jack Conklin as they have been recovering from their long-term injuries from last year. In addition, the Browns lost backup left tackles James Hudson and Hakeem Adenji to injury on Saturday. This leaves Watson with no competent blind-side protection against the Seahawks.

The lack of protection and blocking makes Watson vulnerable in his first snaps since Week 10 of last year.

Even if the key starters on the offensive line came back, the Browns could have a serious problem on their hands. James Hudson was not good last year. Jedrick Wills was disappointing before he got injured.

But now, Cleveland desperately needs at least one of those guys back to give themselves a chance. Otherwise, it's going to be a tough start to the season against Micah Parson and the Cowboys' defense in Week 1.

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