Browns
For a Buccaneers fan who has never watched a Cleveland Browns game, Deshaun Watson is mostly a name attached to two very different storylines: a quarterback who signed a fully guaranteed 230 million dollar contract, the largest guarantee in NFL history at the time, and a player who has barely played football since. Both are true, and both are why Sunday's game at Raymond James Stadium is more interesting than a typical Week 2 matchup between two 0-1 teams.
Key facts
- Browns head coach Todd Monken confirmed Monday, September 14, that Deshaun Watson will start at quarterback against Tampa Bay in Week 2.
- Watson's Week 1 start against Jacksonville was his first game action in 693 days, after tearing his right Achilles tendon on October 20, 2024, against Cincinnati and re-tearing it in January 2025.
- Watson finished the 34-10 loss to Jacksonville 16 of 22 for 205 yards with one touchdown and one interception, was sacked five times and lost a fumble.
- The NFL suspended Watson 11 games and fined him 5 million dollars in 2022 for violating its personal conduct policy after lawsuits alleging sexual misconduct during massage therapy sessions.
- Tampa Bay lost its own opener 33-27 at Cincinnati and hosts Cleveland Sunday, September 20, at 1:00 PM ET, 19:00 CEST, at Raymond James Stadium.
Cleveland traded three first-round picks and two more selections to Houston for Watson in March 2022, then signed him to that five-year, 230 million dollar deal the same month. He has played in just 19 games for the Browns since, across four seasons including a season lost entirely to injury, a return on that investment that has become one of the most discussed contracts in the league.
Monken confirms Watson for Week 2
Browns head coach Todd Monken told reporters Monday, September 14, that Watson will remain the starting quarterback against Tampa Bay. Monken had not committed to the decision immediately after Sunday's loss to Jacksonville, but settled on it after reviewing the game film, saying he expected Watson to start and that there were "some really good things on film, some things that you can build on" from a difficult opener.
693 days away
Watson's Week 1 start was his first regular season action in 693 days. He tore his right Achilles tendon on October 20, 2024, in a game against Cincinnati, the same opponent Tampa Bay lost to in its own 2026 opener, an injury that ends most players' seasons outright. Then, during his recovery in January 2025, the same tendon re-ruptured, requiring a second surgery and wiping out the entire 2025 season as well. An Achilles tear is one of the most serious injuries in football specifically for a quarterback, since it affects the push-off leg drive behind every throw; tearing the same tendon twice made Watson's return to an NFL field at all far from guaranteed.
There is also a part of Watson's story that has nothing to do with his legs. In 2022, the NFL suspended him 11 games and fined him 5 million dollars for violating its personal conduct policy, after more than two dozen women filed civil lawsuits accusing him of sexual misconduct during massage therapy sessions. That suspension came before either Achilles injury, during his first season in Cleveland, and it is part of the public record any new fan of his should know.
A rough re-introduction against Jacksonville
On the field, Watson's return was uneven. He completed 16 of 22 passes for 205 yards with one touchdown and one interception, but he was sacked five times and lost a fumble, and Cleveland fell into a 24-0 halftime hole on its way to a 34-10 loss. His interception came on Cleveland's opening series, and most of his better numbers, including his only touchdown pass, came in the fourth quarter once the outcome was no longer in doubt. Cleveland's new-look offensive line, built around rookies Spencer Fano and Austin Barber, held up reasonably well by the numbers, which put more of the blame for the five sacks on Watson holding the ball than on his blockers.
What it means for Tampa Bay's defense
Todd Bowles built his reputation on pressure through disguise rather than raw talent up front, blitzing at one of the league's highest rates in 2025 even as those blitzes generated only 11 sacks over the whole season, as BucsWorld detailed in The Todd Bowles defense, by the numbers. A quarterback who took five sacks in his first game back, working behind a patched-together offensive line, is close to the ideal opponent for that scheme, if the pass rush can turn disguised pressure into actual quarterback hits more often than it did a year ago.
Tampa Bay's own Week 1 answer on defense was rookie linebacker Josiah Trotter, whose pick-six and sack in his debut have already made news of their own, and fellow rookie Rueben Bain Jr., who started at outside linebacker in his first NFL game. Whether that defense can pressure Watson without giving up big plays behind it is complicated by uncertainty in the secondary: cornerback Jacob Parrish left the Cincinnati game with a back injury, and head coach Todd Bowles had not addressed his Week 2 status as of Monday, as BucsWorld covered in Jacob Parrish has a back sprain, X-rays and MRI clear after Bengals game. If Parrish sits, Benjamin Morrison, who played well filling in against Cincinnati, is next in line at that cornerback spot opposite Zyon McCollum. Fans can catch up on how Tampa Bay's own Week 1 loss unfolded in Buccaneers lose to Cincinnati Bengals 27-33.
Three things to watch Sunday
- Whether Tampa Bay's blitz packages, a season-long question mark, can turn Watson's poor pocket habits from Week 1 into sacks and turnovers rather than free yards when a blitzer is picked up clean.
- Who starts at cornerback opposite Zyon McCollum, Jacob Parrish or Benjamin Morrison, and whether that group can hold up if Watson looks for chunk plays downfield.
- Whether Cleveland's offensive line, playing its second game with two rookie starters, can protect Watson better than it did in Week 1, or whether five sacks becomes a pattern rather than an opening week hiccup.
Kickoff is Sunday, September 20, at 1:00 PM ET, 19:00 CEST, at Raymond James Stadium. For the full guide to watching from outside the United States, see How to watch Bucs vs Cleveland Browns or the Watch hub for every country's options.
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