Kevin Stefanski Explains Why Deshaun Watson Didn't Return For Browns

Quarterback Deshaun Watson exited Cleveland's game against the Colts in the first quarter after suffering head injury

Week 7 was supposed to be a long-awaited, glorious return to the field for Cleveland Browns Quarterback, Deshaun Watson. 

The star signal caller finally cleared every benchmarks the team set for him after a rotator cuff contusion kept him from being "functionally ready" to play QB effectively over the last several weeks. He was limited on Thursday, then practiced fully on Friday, paving the way for him to make his first start against the Indianapolis Colts.

12 minutes in, Watson's day was done, after a scary hit from Colts defensive end Dayo Odeyingbo, sent Watson falling backwards to the Lucas Oil Stadium turf, where his head slammed down violently. As Watson laid on the turf barely moving for several minutes the collective concern was that he had suffered a serious head injury.

Eventually Watson left with trainers, was checked out by one of the NFL's neurologists in the medical tent and was cleared to play, but head coach Kevin Stefanski had other plan and the 28-year-old watched the rest of the Browns 39-38 win from the sidelines.

"It's my job to make tough decisions," Stefanski said after the game. "I just felt I wanted to protect him. Did not want to see him get hit. He was hit hard, and I know he cleared [the protocol] and all that but I just wanted to protect him."

While it seemed pretty evident that the number one concern for Watson after the hit was a head injury, the Browns QB said that the shoulder was what he was most worried about. In fact, Watson flat out admitted that he didn't even realize he needed to be evaluated for a concussion.

"I didn't know I was getting pulled off for a concussion until I got in the tent," Watson said. "I wasn't even worried about the head, it was mostly the shoulder. And then the spotter called me down to get evaluated. From what they said, I got cleared the first time."

After getting the okay from the NFL's doctors, Watson quickly positioned himself next to offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt, with his helmet, looking anxious to get back on the field with his teammates. That anxiousness eventually turned into a look of disappointment once Watson realized he wasn't going back in the game. 

He claimed after the game that he understood Stefanski's decision.

"I understand it," he said. "I wanna go out there and compete and help the team win but but at the end of the day, this is a muscle and something that I genuinely need to produce at the highest level so I understand where he's coming from and we gotta make sure we follow the steps as we go."

Prior to exiting for precautionary reasons, Watson was easily in the midst of the worst start to a game of his career. The former Texans QB had completed just one of his first five passes for five yards and an interception. Initially, he had thrown a second interception on the play that forced him from the game, but after review that call was ultimately reversed.

Still, the injury scare wasn't enough to prevent outsiders speculating that Stefanski had actually benched Watson for poor performance. Something Stefanski tried to put to bed after the game.

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"He's our starter moving forward," Stefanski asserted with a laugh. "He's our starter in Seattle. It's always going to be my decision to protect our players."

As far as whether or not the team is worried that Watson may have re-injured the shoulder, Stefanski was quick to revert back to what the team has said about the injury from the beginning: they're taking it one day at a time.

"I can't speak passed today but if everything clears, he's ready to roll, he's our starter come Wednesday."