Kevin Stefanski Speaks Out on Deshaun Watson Amid Browns' QB Controversy

[ad_1] There seemingly hasn’t been a staff within the NFL this season coping with extra quarterback drama than the Cleveland Browns.

They opened the yr with veteran Joe Flacco because the starter, selecting him over rookies Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders. Nevertheless, after a number of inconsistent performances, Cleveland benched Flacco in favor of Gabriel and finally traded the veteran to the division rival Cincinnati Bengals.

Misplaced in all of the quarterback chaos is the truth that Deshaun Watson stays beneath contract by subsequent season as he continues to get better from the torn Achilles he suffered final October.

On Wednesday, head coach Kevin Stefanski supplied an replace on Watson’s standing—or slightly, lack thereof—noting that whereas there’s nonetheless no timetable for his return, the veteran quarterback is making sturdy progress in his restoration.

“No actual replace there — aside from he’s doing an important job rehabbing, doing a very good job in conferences,” Stefanski mentioned.

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<img id="10801474" alt="Deshaun Watson, Cleveland Browns" caption="Quarterback Deshaun Watson of the Cleveland Browns watches from the sidelines during an NFL preseason game against the Los Angeles Rams at Huntington Bank Field on August 23, 2025 in Cleveland, Ohio." src="Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images" sourcealt="" sources="[]" fetchpriority="auto" loading="lazy" width="8256" height="5504" decoding="async" data-nimg="1" style="color:transparent;aspect-ratio:inherit;object-fit:cover" sizes="(min-width: 1200px) 1536px, (min-width: 768px) 768px, 100vw" srcset="https://assets.newsweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/GettyImages-2231690473.jpg?w=640&quality=75&webp=1 640w, https://assets.newsweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/GettyImages-2231690473.jpg?w=750&quality=75&webp=1 750w, https://assets.newsweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/GettyImages-2231690473.jpg?w=1000&quality=75&webp=1 1000w, https://assets.newsweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/GettyImages-2231690473.jpg?w=1200&quality=75&webp=1 1200w, https://assets.newsweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/GettyImages-2231690473.jpg?w=1360&quality=75&webp=1 1360w, https://assets.newsweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/GettyImages-2231690473.jpg?w=1600&quality=75&webp=1 1600w" bad-src="https://assets.newsweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/GettyImages-2231690473.jpg?w=1600&quality=75&webp=1"/> Extra NFL: Chiefs’ Travis Kelce Sends Blunt Rashee Rice Warning to NFL

Watson was traded from the Houston Texans to the Cleveland Browns in March 2022 and signed what was, on the time, the most important contract in NFL historical past — a five-year, absolutely assured $230 million deal.

It’s secure to say he hasn’t lived as much as that large contract thus far, lacking prolonged time as a result of accidents and struggling to search out constant success when on the sector. Nevertheless, in line with ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Watson remains to be roughly “a month away” from being cleared for soccer actions.

As soon as he's, the Browns may discover themselves in a fair harder state of affairs than earlier than, as his potential return will solely add to the rising quarterback controversy surrounding Watson, Gabriel, and Sanders — not only for the remainder of this season, however probably heading into subsequent yr as nicely.