“Obviously, I don’t wanna be hurt, but at the same time, using this moment to really focus on the details that I wouldn’t focus on if I was rushing back,” QB Deshaun Watson said about his time away from the field. Last season, the Browns’ highest-paid QB sustained a torn Achilles. It was reported that he might end up missing the 2025 season. Earlier, Browns owner Jimmy Haslam even claimed that the Watson trade and contract amounted to a big “swing and a miss.” However, this season, with a six-man QB room, the picture is different from a few months back. What does this mean for head coach Kevin Stefanski?

If you have been keeping up with Watson, the QB has been taking it slow and steady in his long way back to being NFL-ready again. He was spotted working out with his longtime personal QB coach Quincy Avery. He has been silently putting in the work to get back in action. Watson is seemingly eyeing a return this season, even in a crowded and talented QB room. And My Mixtapez just shared a clip which might be Watson’s first practice after his Achilles injury.

Earlier, he was spotted at the training camp with the other five QBs present on the field. However, he wasn’t wearing the uniform. Brad Stainbrook also recently reported on X that the QB might be making a return sooner than expected. “#Browns Deshaun Watson is inching closer and closer to a return to full health. It is expected that he’ll be cleared to play at some point this season,” he wrote on X.

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Needless to say, it only adds to coach Stefanski’s troubles as he has his hands full trying to juggle a four-man QB race for the Browns. As Mary Kay Cabot recently said, Watson appears determined to make a comeback. He has more than enough motivation to do so. His time with the Browns hasn’t exactly been the brightest. Due to his injuries and other issues, he holds a 9–10 record as Cleveland’s starter. Watson has thrown for 3,365 yards with 19 touchdowns and 12 interceptions in a Browns uniform.

Doubters began to question if he could return to his previous form with the Houston Texans, which bagged him that mega payday from Cleveland. He is more determined than ever to prove himself. “Everyone is doubting me, everyone doesn’t believe in me, and they don’t think I can get back to where I was. I know, and I believe. I know I’m going to be way better than before. I’m prepared. Before, I wasn’t prepared because I was going with the flow of how the world was seeing me. But when you get knocked down to the ground and get back up—walk through the rain—that brings out the real and the fire you had inside you,” he said.

But, of course, that is not the only big thing happening in Cleveland right now.

Shedeur Sanders’ impressive performance hasn’t swayed Kevin Stefanski yet

By now, it’s obvious that the Browns aren’t slipping off the headlines radar anytime soon. With the QB situation moving faster than the speed of light and yet somehow standing still, several questions are looming over the Browns. What does the situation look like now after the Browns released their unofficial depth chart?

Well, Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett, and Dillon Gabriel lead the race, with Shedeur Sanders behind them. This comes after the rookie had a striking game in his preseason debut, gaining traction from fans and celebrities alike. Coach Dawn Staley and NBA legend LeBron James had massive praise for the rookie on social media. Impressive, right? He went 14-for-23 for 138 yards with two touchdown passes, earning appreciation from Stefanski as well.

What’s next for the Browns? They will face the Eagles in Philadelphia, and Stefanski has to make a decision soon, with Tyler Huntley and some of those ahead of Shedeur on the depth chart also in the equation. The fact that Sanders is placed in fourth hints that, while the Browns consider him important for the future, the team might go a different direction for starter right now. Pickett and Gabriel, who were both suffering from hamstring injuries, are on the mend. “Dillon can do some 11 on 11. We’re still mindful of his tightness in the hamstring. Kenny, not just yet, but both guys [are] progressing well,” Stefanski said.

With only weeks left before the September 7 regular-season opener against the Bengals, it remains to be seen which way this particularly complex cookie crumbles.