With Deshaun Watson officially heading to IR with a torn ACL and Dorien Thompson-Robinson out for the foreseeable future with a finger injury, the Cleveland Browns are going to start Jameis Winston by process of elimination in Week 8, right?
Yup, as if that wasn’t clear enough, Fox Sports NFL Insider Jordan Schultz made it official, boldly declaring that Winston will be the Browns’ starter in Week 8 against the Baltimore Ravens.
“The Browns plan to start Jameis Winston at QB vs the Ravens in Week 8, with Deshaun Watson out for the rest of the season,” Schultz wrote on social media. “My understanding is Dorian Thompson-Robinson was Watson’s backup on Sunday strictly from a gameplan standpoint.”
Now granted, Schwartz’s understanding is pretty hard to ignore, as, during his Monday media session, Kevin Stefanski outright declared that he “felt like Dorian had acquitted himself well in practice and in his preparation to make him the backup.” Stefanski also pretty definitively stated that Winston would start in Week 8, as his only competition, DTR, is expected to miss an unspecified amount of time with the finger injury that took him out of action in Week 7. Further further more, the Browns just signed Bailey Zappe off the Kansas City Chiefs to serve as their backup quarterback for at least the next few weeks or so so that Winston doesn’t have to go it solo.
Still, in the end, it’s good that all fans now know that Watson is leading the Browns into the future, as Browns Nation can now focus on the future instead of being stuck watching one of the least effective offenses of all time. If things go well in Week 8, who knows, maybe Winston will go on to have a Joe Flacco-esque impact on the 2024 NFL season and take Stefanski back to the playoffs.
The Browns are still committed to Deshaun Watson in 2025
Discussing the fallout of Watson’s season-ending injury during his first media availability session post-Week 7, Stefanski noted just how disappointed the locker room was to see Watson go down, as no one on the team wants to see anyone suffer a season-ending injury.
“Yeah, obviously we’re disappointed when we lose anybody, Ashley (Bastock), to injuries. That’s a very, very unfortunate part of our game,” Stefanski told reporters. “So, it’s tough. We feel bad for Deshaun in this case, feel bad to lose him for the season. And we also know as a football team, this is where you have to step up. Guys have to step up, and that’s just how it goes.”
Asked if he still believes Watson can be the team’s franchise quarterback in 2025, Stefanski didn’t mince words, letting fans know that he still believes in the Clemson product when healthy.
“Yeah, obviously I believe in Deshaun, but I also think it’s important just to acknowledge that he just had a bad injury and bad break for him and we’re feeling bad for him and know that he’ll bounce back but not getting into all those things down the road. I’m looking forward to him getting the surgery and obviously getting his body back.”
Would the Browns actually go back to Watson in 2024 if Winston balls out to the same degree as Flacco in 2023? Sure, the team still has a ton of money tied up in Watson, but the argument last year was that Flacco was simply too old to be a franchise quarterback. Winston, by contrast, is only 30 and could theoretically lead the browns for just as long as Watson, who is only a few months younger. If he can make good on his collegiate potential and put up the sort of production that made him a Pro Bowler in Tampa Bay without the turnover that ultimately ran him out of Florida, who knows, maybe Winston can successfully persuade the Browns’ fanbase to rally for his spot long-term.
