Deshaun Watson returns after nearly 2 years and struggles in a blowout loss to the Jaguars

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Deshaun Watson made his first NFL start in 693 days and couldn't have asked for a better start. The trouble was it lasted only five plays.

Watson had the Cleveland Browns moving on the opening possession Sunday against Jacksonville with a couple of dump-off passes over the middle that put them on the Jaguars 33-yard line. But on second-and-5, Watson didn't see Foyesade Oluokun slide over in coverage, and the linebacker leaped to pick off the pass.

That was the last of Cleveland's hopes in what quickly turned into a 34-10 rout. The next time the Browns got a first down, when Watson scrambled for 3 yards, there was 5:18 left in the first half and the Jaguars already were up 24-0.

“It was just a guy made a play,” Watson said of his interception, one of several mistakes that ranged from a fumble he recovered to a pair of delays that cost the Browns rare opportunities.

“I saw the coverage that brought the blitz late up the middle. They timed it up very well,” he said. "Got knocked off platform, and 23 made a good play. That’s pretty much how that kind of played out. Then we just couldn’t get our rhythm back. Jacksonville made the plays and got points and we didn't. And that's where the game got away.”

Watson finished 16 of 22 for 205 yards, numbers that looked better than they were because of a 46-yard touchdown pass to rookie Denzel Boston with 1:52 left in the game.

It didn't help that Watson and the Browns faced a team that was No. 1 against the run last season and returned all but three starters. Watson was the leading rusher, picking up 38 yards scrambling when he wasn't on his back for five of the Jaguars' sacks.

“It wasn't all on him,” coach Todd Monken said.

The Browns were outmatched all day on the suffocating heat of late summer in Florida, a team trying to rebuild against the AFC South champions.

But so much attention was on Watson, who is getting paid $46 million this year from his five-year, $230 million contract he signed with the Browns in 2022. He tore his Achilles tendon against the Cincinnati Bengals on Oct. 20, 2024, and then tore it again that cost him all of 2025.

Monken said he saw no hesitation in how Watson delivered his passes, even the interception. His big concern was how slow it took to get off plays. The Browns were trying to pick up points late in the first half when a drive stalled by three straight penalties, include a delay of game.

Later in the third quarter, with the Browns facing third-and-2 from the 3, Watson couldn't get off the play in time, then missed badly on a throw to Boston leading to a field goal.

“Certainly could have called it better,” Monken said. “Certainly could have played better around him. Certainly there’s plays I’m sure he wished he had back. There were things operationally that weren’t clean enough, us getting in and out of the huddle, getting our subs in, being up against it.”

Watson was competing with Shedeur Sanders in training camp until Monken selected as him as the starter three weeks before the first regular-season game.

Monken bristled when asked if he was sticking with Watson for next week's game at Tampa Bay.

“I’d rather just talk about today because I haven’t had time to look at the tape,” he said. "I’m sure as hell not firing me. I’m not firing our staff. I’m not getting rid of all of our players. So, he happens to be one of 53 and however many practice squad guys we’ve got, and our staff. He’s one of that.

“We’ll evaluate everything,” he said. “But just to say that emotionally here at the end ... I mean, we just didn’t play good enough. Didn’t coach well enough.”

Two road games to start the season might not be the worst thing for the Browns, particularly after Watson riled up Cleveland fans when he said the booing in a preseason loss to Buffalo was disrespectful and “I feel like I get more love in road games than I do home games.”

Watson found one positive out of losing to the Jaguars for the first time in eight games, six of them when he was with the Houston Texans.

“Definitely just a lot of different emotions from just all over the place,” he said of his start in nearly two years. “But I’m happy that I was able to come out healthy.”

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