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'Each and every game is different': Browns QB Deshaun Watson taking progress week by week
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- 'Each and every game is different': Browns QB Deshaun Watson taking progress week by week
BEREA — There was nothing mystical about going from the first game to the second one for Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson . It was just another week, another game, as far as how he felt.
Watson said he didn't believe the fact he had already played one game before Sunday's 18-13 win at the Jacksonville Jaguars made that big of a difference in the confidence with which he had played.
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"It's just Game 2," Watson said Wednesday. "The games, the more reps we get, I think that's for every player. The more comfortable you get, the more free in the game plan and just each and every game is different. So like I said, [the opener against] Dallas was Dallas and after that Monday I was past that one and I was focused on Jacksonville, so there was no different or anything that we did anything differently."
Watson's words don't necessarily give enough credence to the strides that not just he, but the Browns offense as a whole, took between their opening disaster against the Cowboys and the win over the Jaguars. He can say, and it's no doubt true at a fundamental level, that he didn't notice anything different about the way he felt and played between the two.
However, it's hard to look at the way both Watson and the offense performed in Jacksonville, put it up against the Dallas performance, and say there's anything but a difference. There seemed to be a more confident Watson at the controls of the Browns offense against the Jaguars, especially as they came out of the gates.
Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson (4) celebrates a touchdown against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday in Jacksonville.
Watson was efficient in delivering the football despite completing 22 of 34 passes overall, with a passer rating of at least 75 in three of the four quarters. That includes a 105.1 passer rating in the first quarter, when he was 7 of 9 for 83 yards in leading the Browns to a 7-0 lead.
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"Just again, just more reps and just getting comfortable with the scheme," Watson said. "That was our first time [against Dallas], all of 11 of us together plus the coaching staff together calling the plays and just operating in a live setting. So we're always a little bit more aware of where we wanted to go with the ball and the game plan. So it's definitely an opportunity for us to improve this week against the [ New York Giants ] and just try to build on that."
If there's a place where both Watson and the Browns would like to improve, it would be getting more opportunities to open up the deeper passes in the playbook. Through two games, according to Pro Football Focus, Watson has only completed 7 of 18 passes of 10 air yards or more for 142 yards.
Meanwhile, Watson has completed 39 of 54 passes that have either traveled behind the line of scrimmage or traveled less than 10 air yards. That's added up to 213 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions.
That's not just been a phenomena that is limited to Watson, whose intended air yards, per Next Gen Stats, is tied for 11th with the Atlanta Falcons ' Kirk Cousins at 7.7. Quarterbacks ranked lower than Watson include the Cincinnati Bengals ' Joe Burrow (6.7), Tampa Bay Buccaneers ' Baker Mayfield (6.1) and, at the very bottom of the list, Kansas City Chiefs ' Patrick Mahomes (4.6).
"It's definitely the 2-high defense," Watson said. "I think that might have been an emphasis for a lot of defensive coordinators over the year, this offseason, is just trying to eliminate those shots. Especially with the game is going the way it's going with a lot of [defensive pass interferences] and you can't touch the guys down the field for the defense, so it's harder for them. So they try to play with a lot of depth and 2-high shell so they keep everything underneath, and you don't get those opportunities. So at least that's what I think, for sure."
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The question is, can Watson start to find those deeper shots at some point. His most controversial play against Jacksonville was the third-and-6 pass attempt he had from the Jaguars 38 with 1:37 remaining, a play that was going to be just such a deep shot.
Watson rolled to his left and was preparing to throw to Cedric Tillman , who was breaking free from linebacker Andre Cisco on a corner route to the left. However, Jaguars defensive end Josh Hines-Allen was already in Watson's face and hitting him by the time he released the football.
"I saw a touchdown, but you've got to give Allen credit for making a great play," Watson said of the play. "Tillman, he did his job of selling the block. We got outside and he ran a corner, the corner popped open, but Allen, he beat me to my spot to where I wanted to throw it and that's pretty much it."
Tillman could be a player who finds himself in a bigger role this week with David Bell having gone on injured reserve with a dislocated hip. Add in the expected absence of tight end David Njoku , as well as Watson's struggles to get on the same page with wide receiver Amari Cooper , and finding the candidates to be that deep target would appear to be slimmer than usual against the Giants.
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If Tillman were to emerge or Cooper and Watson find their connection, that would certainly do wonders to help the Browns' passing game take another step forward. Even if Watson doesn't believe it takes someone specific to provide that for him.
"Of course, we have a lot of guys that can be explosive, not just one or two guys going into each and every game plan," Watson said. "Everyone that step on the field can be explosive. So that's our mentality, that's my mentality. Whoever's on the field, whoever gets open, you catch the ball, I get the ball to you and let's make those plays go."
Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on X at @ceasterlingABJ
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Browns QB Deshaun Watson assessing his progress on week by week basis
