The Sensational Ace Gives Browns Another Injury Scare After Collision With Teammate
The Cleveland Browns and their fans are taking a huge sigh of relief this weekend after starting quarterback Deshaun Watson had a brief injury scare on Saturday at David Njoku’s celebrity softball game.
Watson, who is rehabbing from right shoulder surgery last November, collided with tight end Zaire Mitchell-Paden on a pop-up in the first inning of the softball game, per Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com.
Watson played first base, while Mitchell-Paden held things down at second base. Fans in attendance held their collective breaths after both players went down. Thankfully, Watson and Paden were okay.
Paden told reporters after the event that he was happy that Watson wasn’t hurt because the first-year tight end was shaken when the collision happened.
“I was really, really happy that Deshaun was not hurt at all,” Paden said. “When I found out he flipped, I was like, ‘Man, I hope I didn’t hurt him,’” he said. “I didn’t hear him saying, ‘It’s me, it’s me, it’s me’ so once I saw him in my periphery, I stopped and moved out of the way, but I’m glad he’s OK.”
The entire Browns organization is happy Watson is okay because they do not want to end up in the same situation as last season, where they had multiple starting quarterbacks. Last season, the 28-year-old quarterback completed 61.4 percent of his passes for seven touchdowns and four interceptions in six games.
For the Browns to win the AFC North or at least make the playoffs (+134 on FanDuel Sportsbook), they need a healthy Watson for all 17 games this season. Thankfully, Cleveland dodged a bullet.
The Cleveland Browns have one of the best assemblies of talent among their 90-man roster compared to every other team in the NFL. Although there are certainly question marks, the Browns boast one of the NFL’s best and deepest defensive groups and an offense that has seen a ton of substantial investment in recent years.
It’s going to be tough for players to crack this 53-man roster in 2024
Recently extended general manager Andrew Berry and head coach Kevin Stefanski have a difficult task ahead of them making sure they keep the right players on the roster this coming season to help keep this team in contention in the loaded AFC North and AFC in general. Which players could be on the hot seat after OTAs?
One of the deepest position groups on this Cleveland Browns roster is along the defensive line. Since Jim Schwartz came aboard last offseason, there’s been a clear emphasis about having a ton of different personnel to work with and rotate along the defensive line, and Siaki Ika was one of the players the Browns prioritized in last year’s draft class.
