Painful injury during loss may have ended Deshaun Watson’s Browns tenure

After another loss, the Browns appear to have lost their quarterback. For a second straight season, Cleveland is expecting to finish the second half of the year without Deshaun Watson. And, in a most unexpected fashion, the quarterback may have also played his last snap in Cleveland. Watson’s season likely came to a painful end late in the first half of Cleveland’s 21-14 loss to the Bengals with what head coach Kevin Stefanski believes is a ruptured Achilles’ tendon.

Part of a day filled with emotions, Watson’s injury came four plays before running back Nick Chubb – playing his first NFL game in 398 days – punched in a 1-yard touchdown. After Dustin Hopkins missed the ensuing extra point, Chubb’s score cut Cincinnati’s lead to 7-6. The running back finished with 22 yards on 11 carries.

Emotions were all positive for the Bengals, however, starting when Charlie Jones returned the opening kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown to give the Bengals an early 7-0 advantage. Cincinnati (3-4) suddenly has three wins over its last four games after an 0-3 start.

Joe Burrow was a pedestrian but efficient 15 of 25 for 181 yards but his two touchdown passes – third-quarter strikes to Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins – kept the Bengals comfortably ahead most of the game. He put a gorgeous 18-yard pass on the back shoulder of Chase to give the Bengals a 14-6 lead, then his 25-yard pass to Higgins gave Cincinnati a big 21-6 advantage entering the final quarter.

Now, the Browns enter an interesting portion of their season. Prior to Sunday’s game, Cleveland surprisingly elevated Dorian Thompson-Robinson to its No. 2 and made Jameis Winston an emergency third quarterback. Both players wound up playing after Thompson-Robinson threw two interceptions. Cleveland (1-6) has a pair of games against John and Jim Harbaugh, respectively, over the next two weeks, both home contests against the Ravens and Chargers.

The Browns reportedly have insurance options that could bring salary-cap relief should Watson not return. In the long term, however, the team will still carry substantial dead-money hits in future years. Cleveland signed Watson to a five-year, fully guaranteed $230 million contract after acquiring Watson from Houston in 2022. Denver opted to release Russell Wilson — who will start for the Steelers on Sunday — and draft a rookie quarterback prior to this season, taking the hit

Cincinnati, meanwhile, returns home to host Philadelphia (4-2). The Eagles steamrolled the Giants, 28-3, on Sunday.