Rap: Watson (concussion) ‘unlikely’ to play vs. NO

ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported earlier in the day that Deshaun Watson was expected to return as the starter, but Monken didn’t rush to name a starter when questioned on Monday. Monken praised Shedeur Sanders for his performance in Sunday’s start against the Saints, but said he hasn’t really “thought through” who will start in Week 10 against the Texans. It’s hard to imagine Monken handing the job over to Sanders after a start that was mostly forgettable until the final five minutes of regulation, even if Watson hasn’t been overly impressive this season. We would still expect Watson to get the nod against Houston, but Sanders’ late-game performance won’t do anything to quiet those looking/hoping for a change.

This shouldn’t surprise anyone after Shedeur Sanders failed to make the most of his spot start in Week 9 against the Saints. Sanders and the Browns’ offense stalled through the first three quarters of Sunday’s game before a late 64-yard touchdown pass to KC Concepcion gave the Browns their first touchdown of the day. An impressive catch-and-run score by Harold Fannin in overtime gave Sanders his second touchdown pass on the day, but the 39-yard score came on a pass, in which Fannin generated 37 yards after the catch. Watson has struggled mightily at times this season, but Sanders didn’t do enough to unseat him in what was a plus matchup against a bad defense. Now out of concussion protocol, Watson will suit up in a “revenge game” against his former team next week, where he will profile as a low-end QB2.

Watson cleared the league’s concussion protocol over the weekend but was not prepared as the starter throughout the week. Shedeur Sanders will get his first start of the season and Dillon Gabriel will back him up.

Watson returned to practice on Friday for a limited session and cleared the league’s protocol over the weekend. Still, after preparing Shedeur Sanders to start throughout the week, head coach Todd Monken decided not to throw a curveball at his own team on game day. Sanders will start and Dillon Gabriel will back him up. Watson has rebounded this year, but the lows are still staggeringly low. He took eight sacks in a blowout loss to the Steelers last week. If Sanders plays well today, Monken will at least have something to think about ahead of Week 10.

Head coach Todd Monken said Watson will be questionable for Sunday’s game, but has already said Shedeur Sanders will make his first start of the season. Watson missed Wednesday’s and Thursday’s practices but was upgraded to a limited participant on Friday, although he has yet to clear concussion protocol. The decision to start Sanders likely stems from him working with the first-team offense during the week and the unlikelihood of Watson clearing protocol in time for Sunday’s game.

Cleveland’s Mary Kay Cabot indicated yesterday that Shedeur Sanders is seemingly slated to start in Week 9 against the Saints. If that ends up being the case, and Sanders can play well enough, it might be possible for him to steal the starting job from Watson this week. Sanders would be QB2-viable against the Saints.

Cabot said it would be a challenge for Deshaun Watson to clear the NFL’s concussion protocol by Saturday and suit up for Sunday’s game. Watson suffered a head injury in Week 8 against the Steelers and reported concussion symptoms on Tuesday, according to the Browns. Sanders in 2025 was the most inaccurate quarterback in the league and struggled to support fantasy-relevant pass catchers. Harold Fannin could see a boost with Sanders under center after Sanders targeted the tight end relentlessly during his 2025 starts.

Watson took a hit to the head in the first half of the Browns’ Week 8 loss to the Steelers. He was evaluated for a brain injury and re-entered the game. He then reported concussion-like symptoms on Tuesday and entered the protocol on Wednesday. It would be somewhat surprising if Watson is able to clear the protocol in time for the Browns’ Week 9 matchup against the Saints. That would likely mean Shedeur Sanders would get the starting nod against New Orleans. Sanders should only be rostered in superflex formats for now.

The Browns were never really a threat to win this game. The Steelers only led 7-0 at the end of the first quarter, but the Browns gained nine total yards in that quarter. Even when the Browns were able to keep the game close, the Steelers always seemed to answer with a big defensive play, and Watson was sacked eight times. With the Browns trailing by two touchdowns for the entire second half, Watson was able to air it out, but of his 324 yards, 240 of them came to Harold Fannin Jr. and the two running backs. Despite the high yardage totals, it wasn’t really a great showing for Watson, who seemed flustered in the pocket and struggled to connect with his wide receivers. Things could get easier against the Saints next week though, so he remains on the QB2 radar.

Watson was evaluated after taking a hit to the head on the first drive. Shedeur Sanders played the end of the first drive, which ended in a Browns fumble, and now Watson is back in the game.