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Deshaun Watson Suggests Shoulder Injury May Have Happened Prior To Ravens Game
Earlier this month Deshaun Watson said he'll be ready for the start of Week 1.
As Deshaun Watson arrived in Berea this week for the beginning of the Browns offseason program, his recovery from shoulder surgery is the talk of the town.
Watson has spent most of the offseason rehabbing from a fractured glenoid bone in his throwing shoulder. The origins of the injury remain a bit murky though, as the Browns QB suggested he may have sustained the ailment prior to the Ravens game that wound up being his last in 2023.
"Dr. [Neal] ElAttrache was super, super surprised, especially when I got to him in November is how did I play in that Baltimore game," Watson said. "Really the Cardinals game too but, especially the Baltimore game. He was amazed by that."
To this point it's been universally believed that the fracture was sustained from a hit Watson took against the Ravens while running with the football. Watson admitted that he felt a clicking in his shoulder after that game, which is when he first knew something was wrong.
Shoulder injuries did wind up plaguing the 28-year-old QB for much of the season though. After Week 3, Watson started nursing a shoulder contusion that kept him sidelined for most of six weeks that followed. Based on his comments Tuesday, that earlier issue may have contributed to the more serious glenoid fracture that ended his season.
"It's possible," Watson said of the possibility that the injury happened before the game in Baltimore. "[Dr. ElAttrache] was just amazed I was able to play those two weeks dealing with the pain, especially with what he's seen over his years with baseball guys that dealt with shoulder injuries.
Nov 12, 2023; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson (4) runs with football against Ravens
Jessica Rapfogel-USA TODAY Sports
Ultimately, Watson doesn't even seem to know when the injury officially happened.
"I don't really remember," Watson said. "From the Tennessee game I was dealing with shoulder injuries ... no one knows when it actually happened, but when that bone actually came apart I knew in Baltimore."
Regardless of when the injury may or may not have happened, Watson has continued to make strady progress in his recovery by sticking to a stringent plan laid out by Dr. ElAttrache and the Browns medical staff.
For now, Watson is considered limited for the start of the offseason program but he revealed that he is throwing at full speed and that everything with his throwing motion and mechanics is normal. These first two weeks of the program consist of workouts, rehab and meetings for players but once practices move out to the field in May, Watson hopes to gradually ramp things up and become more involved.
"That's the plan," Watson said of being able to participate in OTAs next month. "We talked previously about that. I think we gotta see how these next coupld weeks go. Dr. ElAttrache, he wants to be a little more conservative, just because it was a joint β the glenoid, labrum. So he wants to really make sure we're not doing too much and other experts that were a part of it said the same thing."
At the beginning of the month Watson told reporters that he feels confident he'll be ready to go for the start of the season. Patience is the key thought for the Browns star QB.Neither the Browns or Watson know when he'll be back to 100-percent healthy.
