CLEVELAND — Lying face down in the grass, Deshaun Watson couldn’t see another of his passes sail out of bounds.
Everything about his return on Sunday was off target.
Watson didn’t look comfortable from the start in his first game since breaking a bone in his right shoulder in November as the Cleveland Browns were blasted 33-17 in their season opener by the Dallas Cowboys.
This was not the comeback Watson or the Browns had hoped for as the 28-year-old quarterback tries to jump-start his career after making just 12 starts over the past two seasons due to an NFL suspension and shoulder surgery.
Cleveland’s new-look offence was hard to look at.
Watson spent much of the day running from Dallas defenders as Cleveland’s offensive line, missing both of its starting tackles, struggled to keep their quarterback upright. He was sacked six times and the Cowboys were credited with 17 hits on Watson.
“Yeah, he got hit way too often,” coach Kevin Stefanski said. “We can’t let that happen to him. He fought like crazy, and listen, the football team fought like crazy to the end. But bottom line is, we have to protect our quarterback better than that.”
Watson also took several hard shots while running after the pocket collapsed. He said his surgically repaired shoulder held up fine, but Watson said he couldn’t gauge how he was overall physically until the adrenaline wore off.
It wasn’t too early for him to address a poor performance that triggered booing from Cleveland fans in the first half and a mass exodus in the third quarter.
“We’re not the type of people that make excuses,” Watson said. “So some people can say that can contribute a lot, you know, my injury, guys missing time. But at the end of the day, once you’re on the field, you gotta perform, you gotta execute.
“We didn’t do that overall. And yeah, it showed.”
Watson didn’t play in the pre-season as the Browns chose to keep him as healthy as possible. The long layoff certainly affected his timing. Watson missed some easy throws, was hesitant on others and never got into a rhythm.
Cleveland’s offence, which has been re-designed by Stefanski and first-year coordinator Ken Dorsey, sputtered badly in the first half. The Browns picked up just one first down and gained only 54 yards in the first 30 minutes.
Watson finished 24 of 45 for 169 yards with two interceptions and one TD.
It was ugly, but Watson said the outing didn’t shake his confidence.
“Hell no,” he said. “I’ll always be Deshaun Watson, regardless of whoever else says otherwise. We all have days like this when you’re playing this type of game, and that’s just part of what comes with it. It comes with the territory.
“And especially in my position: much is given, much is required.”
As bad as things went, Watson found some perspective after a trying few days.
Following the game, he sat quietly at his locker and mostly listened during an extended conversation with backup QB Jameis Winston. General manager Andrew Berry stopped to offer support.
Watson said his father died on Friday and that a former teammate passed away Saturday. He said the Browns told him he didn’t have to play.
“Football is definitely something that you got to take very, very seriously and it’s our job, it’s our career,” Watson said. “But you know, there are other things that are bigger than this. It’s been a long week and they gave me the opportunity to go back home, but I told them I wanted to be here with my guys.”