During a recent press conference, Watson pushed back on the idea that his relationship with Browns fans is solely his responsibility. He suggested that media coverage has set high expectations, implying that pundits anticipate he’ll produce 400 yards passing and five touchdowns every week. “The media has this expectation that I’m supposed to throw [for] 400 yards and five touchdowns every week. So, until that happens, I guess it’s going to be the same situation. Again, my job is to make sure I’m operating well so we can try to get a win and keep moving forward from there,” he said.
In Sunday’s game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Watson completed 16 of 22 pass attempts for 205 yards, with one touchdown and one interception. He also led the team with 38 rushing yards but lost 20 yards on five sacks.
Regarding the performance, Watson downplayed some of the issues by emphasizing he believes there were relatively few mistakes. He noted that he had only four incompletions, including a tipped ball, a near end-of-half interception, and a late-game throwaway, while acknowledging a turnover on a sack fumble that the Browns recovered. “Had one turnover, a couple — that one sack-fumble, have to protect the ball, but we recovered it. That’s pretty much it, for real. We just didn’t have opportunities in the red zone to get points. Only six incompletions — one of them was a pick, one of them was the end of the game, end of the half. Tipped ball. Two missed throws, and then a throwaway,” he said.
Looking ahead, the Browns will try to secure their first win of the season in a game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, led by former Browns No. 1 overall pick Baker Mayfield. The matchup is set for kickoff at 1 p.m. ET on Sunday on CBS.
