Before Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson became the starting quarterback for the 2026 season, he was at odds with the Dawg Pound. In the face of resounding boos from the fanbase through training camp and the preseason, he called them out for having a personal beef with him. But after he became the QB1, he changed tactics, offered an apology, and vowed to get wins for them. While the season opener didn’t go his way, he did win Week 2 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with a fair performance. After that game, he was asked if he had anything to say to the Dawg Pound ahead of their home opener. Watson, smiling for a change, offered a fresh perspective.
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“I never try to go at war with the fans,” said Watson. “So I think the biggest thing is just ready for support, ready to feel their energy, ready to get this big dub for the city of Cleveland and continue this great feeling that we have this week. So that’s my motto: just keep pushing forward, finding ways to win on Sunday to take advantage of the opposing team and get the W.”
That positivity is a breath of fresh air for Cleveland. But when that clip landed on the Speakeasy podcast, nobody was sold on it. Host Kieran Hickey-Semple posed the question: “Do you believe the Browns fans owe Watson an apology?” Former Browns linebacker Emmanuel Acho pointed to the repeated “lies” the Dawg Pound has been served, looking like promises, and posed the same question to former Browns safety TJ Ward. Not mincing words, Ward brought out big receipts against Deshaun Watson.
“Hell no. They don’t owe him an apology,” Ward said. “One thing you do not do in Cleveland. You could go after the front office, the owner, the coaches. You go at everybody; you don’t go at them fans in Cleveland, man. They sell out for a winless team week in and week out. The Browns fans, the Dawg Pounders, they’re sold out. So, he may have burnt that bridge with the fans…They a no-nonsense fan base. They don’t take no sh*t.
“I still got a lot of friends in Cleveland, a lot of people that I’ve learned and built lifetime relationships with, and they don’t take lightly to that kind of slander. Especially for somebody who’s come in and ain’t done sh*t that’s getting overpaid. Good game in Tampa. Congratulations. You got a win on the road. The defense created two turnovers, held Baker [Mayfield] to 185 yards. It ain’t like you went out there and threw for 500 yards. You went out there and threw for 230 yards. Your longest pass was 15 yards, where Denzel Boston took it for 55. So, it wasn’t like you was out there going gung-ho and just letting it rip and just putting it in the basket and everybody was eating. No, it wasn’t that type of game, man.”
Now, Ward’s numbers may be a little off, but the assessment is pretty much on point. Against a struggling Tampa Bay, Watson went 24-of-30 for 238 yards, two touchdowns, while taking two sacks. The Browns defense intercepted Baker Mayfield once and landed three sacks on him. Special teams did the rest, as the only scores on the board in the first half – for both the teams – came through field goals.
As for the Buccaneers, their defense broke down at crucial moments, struggled to make stops, and only landed 4 QB hits on Watson, allowing him quick throws that kept the drives going. For TJ Ward, this was more about the Buccaneers’ defensive failure than Deshaun Watson’s offensive flair.
“Tampa Bay Buccaneers are not a very good team. Their offense is okay, their defense is horrendous,” Ward added. “Their defense is ranked 25th right now. In two more weeks, they’ll be ranked 32nd – I guarantee it. They can’t tackle. They can’t cover, they can’t align, their assignments are all over the place. It’s not a good team.
“So, when you get back to Cleveland, this is the happiest I’ve seen him be. It’s after a win; it’s great. But if he would have had this type of energy, this type of positivity throughout camp, throughout the preseason since he’s been there, maybe he would get more love, but you’re not like that, right? So, it’s a facade. As soon as something bad happens and the fanbase don’t agree with it, what you going to do? Go back to talking bad about them? Man, they ready to get him up out of there regardless. He better go on a multi-game win streak and win in front of the Cleveland fans. That’s what you got to start with. They got Carolina coming in, and Carolina ain’t no slouch.”
Now, the visiting Carolina Panthers already put up 37 points against Chicago in Week 1 and lost nonetheless by 59 points. Week 2 was better as they blew out the Atlanta Falcons 34-3.
As for Deshaun Watson, you can’t really call it a home-field advantage if your fanbase doesn’t want you there. The challenge in front of him is to ball out and prove to Cleveland that he can sustain drives and win them games. Anything less than that would only keep the criticism going from a fanbase that hasn’t seen the playoffs since January 2024.