Next Tuesday, the suspension of Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson will begin. Until then, he’ll still be practicing fully with the team.
“He will still take reps,” coach Kevin Stefanski told reporters on Tuesday. “It may be more in show-team type looks, going against our defense in carded-type periods. Everything that Deshaun does out here on the practice field when it comes to individual, show-team reps, post-practice work and off to the side work, I think it all adds up.”
The biggest challenge for the Browns will be getting Watson ready to go as of Week 13, since it will be his first regular-season game action in roughly 23 months. That presumes he’s reinstated as scheduled. Although he won’t have to affirmatively apply to be reinstated, he’ll need to comply with all terms of the agreement reached five days ago -- including most importantly that he successfully complete the treatment requirements.
That’s not an automatic, given that (as of last Thursday) he continued to profess his innocence as to the allegations that resulted in his 11-game suspension and $5 million fine.
