HOUSTON — Exactly 700 days had handed since Deshaun Watson final represented an N.F.L. franchise in a regular-season recreation and, on Sunday, little or no was the identical since his final begin.
Watson took the sector at NRG Stadium, dwelling of the Houston Texans, the group for which he’d performed his total skilled profession. Only this time, Watson was the beginning quarterback for the Cleveland Browns.
And whereas Watson and his new group, the franchise that dedicated a assured $230 million to him in March, spent the week making an attempt to shift the main target to soccer, the importance of this assembly of two dropping groups was not the sport itself or the consequence, a 27-14 Browns win.
Rather, Sunday marked the return of a star quarterback to the N.F.L.’s regular-season stage for the primary time since January 2021, an look one of many greater than two dozen girls who mentioned Watson assaulted or harassed them in therapeutic massage appointments known as “incredibly painful.”
The recreation marked the tip of the 11-game suspension the league issued Watson as punishment for violating its private conduct coverage. The penalty was the results of these accusations and the a lot scrutinized N.F.L. disciplinary course of that adopted.
Watson, 28, steadfastly denied the accusations towards him, most just lately on Aug. 18, the day he and the N.F.L. agreed to the phrases of his self-discipline: an 11-game suspension, a $5 million advantageous and required participation in a behavioral analysis and therapy program as a situation of his reinstatement. An N.F.L. spokesman mentioned the collectively chosen therapy supplier knowledgeable the league and the gamers’ union that Watson had “made strides” however instructed him to not discuss his therapy publicly.
Watson was met with a refrain of boos when he stepped to the road of scrimmage to take his first snap, simply moments after Texans quarterback Kyle Allen threw an interception on the primary play from scrimmage. The play was at first known as an incomplete move meant for tight finish Teagan Quitoriano, however, after a overview, the ball was dominated to have been picked off by Browns security John Johnson. The overview meant followers’ boos lingered and constructed as Watson took the sector with 14 minutes 54 seconds remaining within the first quarter.
There was no method of understanding if the boos have been the results of Watson’s acrimonious break up from the Texans after sitting out the 2021 season following a commerce demand. Or in the event that they got here from attendees voicing their displeasure over the in depth accusations of sexual misconduct. Or each.
What was clear instantly was Watson’s unfamiliarity with commanding an N.F.L. offense, as he missed throws and threw an finish zone interception in a recreation during which the Browns’ defensive and particular groups items scored all three of Cleveland’s touchdowns. Watson accomplished 12 of twenty-two passes for 131 yards, with no touchdowns and a 53.4 passer ranking, not a displaying that recalled the Pro Bowl-level performances Watson was accustomed to having earlier than his two-year absence from the sport.
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