Every fan base knows the feeling of booing a guy in August and cheering him in October. Deshaun Watson was booed off the field after a rough preseason outing against the Buffalo Bills. Fast forward, and he got kicker Andre Szmyt into range for a 56-yard field goal with 10 seconds left, giving the Cleveland Browns a 27-24 win over the Steelers. Tony Gonzalez, who was watching the game from the Prime Video set, had something to say, especially about the Browns quarterback.
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“You can’t say enough about Deshaun Watson,” Gonzalez said during Prime broadcast. “We talked about it in the pregame show: the adversity that he’s gone through, on the field, off the field, everybody doubting him. The home crowd right here, they’re gonna be cheering him from here on out, but the stuff that he’s gone through, you have to take your hat off to him and say, ‘Wow,’ because he looks fantastic.
“Is he back to his old form, back to the 2021 form? I wouldn’t say quite yet, but he’s trending towards that direction, and if he’s able to keep going in that direction, to me this is one of the biggest stories in the NFL right now going out to the rest of the year. If he continues it, with that young group of offense, this team is not saying, ‘Hey, we’re going to wait a couple of years; we arrive this year.’ Especially with that defense, this is a very good football team, but Deshaun Watson, to me, man, I’m so proud and happy for him”
Deshaun Watson joined the Cleveland Browns with high expectations. After all, he was coming off a breakout 2020 season with 4,823 passing yards and 33 touchdowns in 16 regular-season games.
However, contrary to expectations, Watson delivered a sluggish and rusty performance, which was also marked by injuries and suspensions. By the start of the 2026 season, the 31-year-old veteran QB had only 19 appearances under his name.
As a result, several analysts alongside fans were skeptical about Watson being the Browns QB1 for the 2026 season. To that end, fans were even seemingly against the veteran being considered for the role.
It was evident when Watson made his first appearance in front of the home crowd since tearing his right Achilles tendon in October 2024 and lost the preseason game against the Buffalo Bills (31-7). In that game, across four second-half drives, Watson completed just 5 of 12 passes for 36 yards and threw an interception.
However, the same cannot be said following Watson’s performance in the first four games of the 2026 season. So far, the Cleveland Browns QB1 has racked up 855 passing yards and six touchdowns.
But Tony Gonzalez, who has 17 seasons in the NFL as a tight end, was quite happy with the way Deshaun Watson has performed against all those doubts, especially following the Week 4 Pittsburgh Steelers win.
Next up, the Browns and Watson will face the New York Jets on October 11, where all eyes will be again on how the 31-year-old veteran QB will perform.