Kevin Stefanski sees Deshaun Watson finding confidence from playing
CLEVELAND — The Deshaun Watson who spoke about his first start off an 11-game suspension sounded like a quarterback who was still trying to find himself as much as establish himself on a new team.
Although it wasn’t a timidity the Browns quarterback presented, it was a muted aura he projected.
Nearly two weeks after that first start in Houston, Watson projected a much different air about him after the Browns defeated the Baltimore Ravens 13-3 last Saturday. There was a “swagger,” in his words, to him during and after the game, which was not present 13 days earlier against the Texans, or even just six days prior in Cincinnati.
The change in Watson was something coach Kevin Stefanski expected to see emerge. It was just a matter of the quarterback getting back into his comfort zone of playing and, truth be told, winning.
“He doesn’t lack for confidence, and he is a great leader in the building, outside the building, on the practice field and in the locker room,” Stefanski said on a day-after Zoom call Sunday. “I do think there is certainly confidence that comes from playing, winning and those type of things. That always leads to confidence.”
That confidence doesn’t just come in Watson’s words to his teammates or to the media. It also comes in the way he plays.
The mechanical, almost robotic, way Watson played in his first game back isn’t the way he played in becoming one of the league’s top quarterbacks between 2017 and 2020 while in Houston. He played with a flair, turning broken plays into big ones for the offense.
The signs of that Watson returning showed up late in the loss to the Bengals, but were more consistently apparent against the Ravens. Nowhere was that more apparent than the way Stefanski and offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt turned him loose in a no-huddle look on the Browns’ lone touchdown drive.
“Just rhythm really,” receiver Amari Cooper said of Watson’s comfortability. “Rhythm and timing. Can see him dropping back and when he lets it go he’s more comfortable, just getting in the groove, so I would say rhythm and timing for sure.”
Cooper had two catches for 44 on that 94-yard touchdown drive. The first of those was a 16-yard deep out route that may have been Watson’s best throw since coming back.
On the play, Watson bootlegs bootlegged to the right a bit and saw Cooper breaking open. Despite safety Kyle Hamilton being in on the coverage, he threw a dart to the left, past Hamilton and into Cooper’s hands.
“He sees it really, really well,” Stefanski said. “He had some plays in the game (Saturday) — one in particular that I am thinking about — where he has an uncanny ability to make some throws in tight, tough windows. It is definitely a part of his game and a part of our game that will continue to grow.”
The next opportunity comes Saturday when the Browns play host to the New Orleans Saints. It’ll be the latest opportunity for Watson and Stefanski to grow together as quarterback and play-caller, which has been as much a part of the acclimation process as anything Watson’s done on the field.
Watson has brought up the connection with Stefanski and Van Pelt almost every time he’s spoken since returning from suspension. Every time, it’s within the context of getting on the same page and getting more comfortable with their strengths and, even, weaknesses, both in the offense and in the operation of a game.