Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson received a scathing message from ESPN's Stephen A. Smith after Watson's recent comments about expectations as the team's starter. On Thursday, Smith spoke directly to the camera on ESPN's "First Take," addressing the Browns' quarterback and his lackluster performances since joining the team.
In particular, Watson struggled to get much going in his first start of the season, which ended in a Week 1 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars. "Deshaun Watson, you have been awful, and if you were arrested for being awful. … I wouldn’t knock it," Smith said. It has been very, very bad.
But I'm gonna tell you how you just made it worse. Being stupid is another!" Smith said he wouldn't disrespect Watson by calling him stupid; instead, he called Watson's actions "stupid" because he was "complaining about people talking about [him] playing football." More news: Texans Pro Bowler ‘In Jeopardy’ of Missing Time After Suffering Sudden Injury "Haven't you done other things that people could be talking about? They're not bringing it up.
I'm not gonna bring it up now. You're actually being talked about as it pertains to football," Smith said. He told Watson he should "embrace every football conversation" and told him to "think" about what else fans and reporters could be talking about.
Smith suggested the media in Cleveland is trying to support him by not bringing him up and it's "just stupid" for him to not embrace it. In 2022, the Houston Texans traded their three-time Pro Bowl quarterback to the Browns for multiple future draft picks. That trade occurred amid Watson's off-field legal issues, for which he served an 11-game suspension in 2022 after an NFL investigation.
He started six games for Cleveland in 2022, going 3-3 in those starts. He started six games again in 2023, going 5-1. However, in the 2024 season, he had a 1-6 record in seven starts, and the team ranked last in the NFL in passing yards.
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