Deshaun Watson’s season is over, due to (per the team) a new shoulder injury suffered on Sunday. It’s been determined. It’s been decided. It’s over.
One report suggests that Watson desired to keep on playing.
Via Tom Pelissero of NFL Media, Watson “wanted to be shot up and play through the injuries.” He was told by doctors that, “if he got hit again in the same spot, the shoulder could fall apart.”
Frankly, this feels like an effort to create a narrative. First, if it was easy to shoot up a high-ankle sprain and play, more guys would be doing it. Second, this notion emerges after Watson previously declined to play with a shoulder injury despite being “medically cleared.”
There was external criticism — and some internal confusion — about Watson’s failure to play despite getting medical clearance. The story was that, despite being cleared, Watson couldn’t throw the ball the way he believed he needed to throw it.
So how would he be able to throw the ball the way he needed to throw it with a broken shoulder that needed to be shot up?
Some are wondering whether it’s even a new injury. Some are wondering whether there was a broken bone all along, and that the Browns hadn’t caught it. Apparently, this specific injury is very rare and can be easily missed through usual diagnostic tests. If so, it could explain why the Browns would believe he was able to play, and why Watson ultimately couldn’t.
None of it matters now. Watson is done for the year. Still, it’s hard to think he would have, or could have, got pain-killing injections and played with both a broken shoulder and a high-ankle sprain.