16 November 2023 , 13:53
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Deshaun Watson has admitted he is still in "disbelief" after fracturing his shoulder in Sunday's win against the Baltimore Ravens.
The Cleveland Browns quarterback has been ruled out for the rest of the NFL season with the injury that has affected his throwing arm. The 28-year-old sustained the fracture, and a sprained ankle, in the first half of the team's narrow 33-31 win over the Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium.
Watson was steady under center, although his performance is all the more remarkable now it has been revealed the extent of his injury. He completed 20 of his 32 passes for 213 yards, and playing through Elijah Moore for a touchdown. He also completed all 14 of his passes in the second half and led the charge for Dustin Hopkins to score his game winning fields goal in the dying seconds.
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An MRI following the game has confirmed that Watson will require surgery after suffering a displaced fracture to the glenoid in his right shoulder. The news will mean the three-time Pro Bowl quarterback - who has already missed games this season - will have been forced to sit out of 39 games over the past three seasons.
The missed games include an 11-game suspension where he was deemed to have violated the NFL's personal conduct policy. Reacting to his injury, Watson admitted it was "very tough" to take and revealed he is "hurt about it."
Watson sustained the injury during Cleveland's win against the Baltimore Ravens (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)"I'm still in disbelief. I'm still trying to process all the information," Watson said. "I felt like we were turning a corner to really make a run and still believe we still will with the guys in this locker room. I just wanted to physically be a part of it. It's tough to try to wrap everything around my head right now."
"The whole second half was painful to throw a football," Watson added. "I was just pushing through whatever I was feeling."
Despite guiding the team to a vital win against the Ravens with his shoulder injury, Watson was focused on the importance of victory in a wide-open AFC playoff race..
“I just want to win, that’s all I was focused on was just winning,” he said. “I didn’t care how we did it, whatever we need to do to turn that game around and to win and leave everything out there on the field, and that’s what I was focused on.
"It was cool, but the ultimate goal is that Super Bowl, so I won’t have that opportunity, but my teammates got the opportunity and I pray and know that they’ll do whatever they can to get that ultimate goal.
“And I’m going to be right there supporting ‘em and boosting ‘em up, hyping ‘em up. So yeah, the win was awesome, but the ultimate goal was to try to go all the way.”
Cleveland will play with rookie Dorian Thompson-Robinson in Watson's absence when the team faces the Pittsburgh Steelers next on Sunday (Nov. 19).