Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson spoke with reporters on Tuesday about head coach Kevin Stefanski and offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey installing a new-look offense this spring.
“[Dorsey is] doing a heck of a job of putting the offense together with Kevin and all the other staff members,” Watson said, per Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal. “[They’re] doing stuff that we love to do and that we’re comfortable doing.”
The Browns reportedly replaced former offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt with Dorsey this offseason because it’s hoped that Dorsey’s prior work with dual-threat quarterbacks will help Watson reclaim the form that made him a three-time Pro Bowl selection during his time with the Houston Texans. It was later said that “Dorsey’s mandate is to construct an offense that comforts Watson and maximizes his skill set.”
Ulrich mentioned in Wednesday’s piece that Watson hasn’t “operated an offense featuring this many shotgun snaps” since his Houston tenure that ran from 2017 through the 2021 season. Watson sat through the entire 2021 campaign after he requested to be traded by the Texans.
“There’s definitely new things that the guys have to study, have to work at,” Stefanski said on Tuesday about Cleveland’s new scheme. “We’re adding to certain areas of our offense. This offseason is really designed to bring them up to speed. I wish there was a way to plug it into the back of your head like ‘The Matrix,’ but there’s not.”
Perhaps the most interesting thing about the Browns hiring Dorsey this past winter is that it’s largely unknown what Watson could have become playing under Van Pelt.
The 28-year-old signed a fully guaranteed five-year, $230M contract shortly after he was traded to the Browns in March 2022 and missed the first 11 games of the subsequent NFL season while serving a suspension related to allegations of sexual misconduct during massage sessions.
He then made six starts this past campaign before a shoulder injury knocked him out through Cleveland’s wild-card playoff loss at Houston.
Nevertheless, Stefanski left little doubt on Tuesday that he and others felt a Dorsey-Watson marriage would better benefit the team.
“For us, it’s focusing in on the plays that make the most sense for our roster, and obviously your quarterback is front of mind,” Stefanski added about the team’s current offense.
The Browns won’t publicly admit they could explore moving on from Watson next offseason if things go poorly for their offense this coming fall, but such conversations are already daily parts of local sports-talk radio programs.
Watson is confident he will play at a high level under Dorsey, but it remains to be seen how the signal-caller’s shoulder will respond to the grind related to a full training-camp schedule.
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