Browns’ Starting Safety Contradicts Team’s Narrative on Deshaun Watson’s Locker Room Support

Deshuan Watson wasn’t the only player on the Cleveland Browns’ roster go through a rough outing in Week 1 at Jacksonville, but he was by far the most visible.

After all, that’s a part of being the team’s quarterback -- like it or not, playing the most important position in sports puts you in position of being the guy everyone else should be able to look up to when things aren’t going you’re way.

And no single player has the power to jumpstart a struggling team like the quarterback, when the rest of the team actually believes in him.

From the looks of it, that might not be the case in Cleveland.

Speaking to reporters on Monday, Browns’ starting safety Ronnie Hickman cast a doubt whether the team was really behind keeping Watson under center for Week 2, another Florida road game, this time facing the Buccaneers.

When asked if he supported continuity at the quarterback position for Week 2 after the debacle in Jacksonville, Hickman answered quite bluntly.

"That's above my pay grade."

#Browns S Ronnie Hickman was asked if he likes the continuity at QB, with HC Todd Monken saying he anticipates Deshaun Watson starting again in Week 2.

"That's above my pay grade." pic.twitter.com/OTfcO2y6nF
— Camryn Justice (@camijustice) September 14, 2026

Even if Hickman didn’t come out with a plain “no”, it’s very telling that there was no politically correct response along the lines of “we support Watson and our focus is to get better as a team”, or at least a “as a team we’ll firmly support anyone who the coach decides to play at quarterback.”

While it was a purely individual answer and should not be considered a general feeling within the organization, it does seem to run against the narrative that has been pushed by the franchise over the last few weeks.

Said Monken when justifying his decision to name Watson the starter for the regular season, "I know what we think and what we see every day in our building and our players and the momentum we have. And we're 100% behind Deshaun.”

Earlier this month, Browns’ insider Mary Kay Cabot also reported that "What people don't really know about Deshaun inside the building is that his teammates really love him. They love him a lot. He was always a guy that took receivers on trips to go work out in the offseason. He's a team guy through and through. He helped those young guys last year, Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel, and his teammates really, really like him a lot”.

Now, Hickman’s words open the door for a different story, one where the locker room isn’t actually “100 percent behind Deshaun,” as Monken offered.

And the head coach himself probably confirmed this theory when he stated, also on Monday after Week 1’s humiliating loss, “To be honest, they don't have a choice. This isn't a debate,” when asked what his locker room thought of the quarterback situation.

Seems like a pretty stark contrast, going from a supposed “100 percent” support to “they don’t have a choice.”

Why Ronnie Hickman’s response matters for the Browns

Monken might try to minimize the opinions of the rest of the players all he wants when it comes to determining who gets to play under center, but there’s no denying that those opinions can ultimately factor in the team’s results. At least internally, Monken is obligated to ask himself if Watson’s teammates are truly willing to lay it all on the line for the quarterback. If the answer is a no, then there’s no way Watson -- no matter how much better he might be over the other passers individually, if he in fact is better -- gives the Browns the best chance to win at a team sport like football.

And that’s the choice nobody, including Monken, is willing to admit -- the players can choose to play harder for one quarterback or another. And like it or not, Shedeur Sanders did provide ample evidence last year that the rest of the team showed a little spring in their step once he took over for Dillon Gabriel, even if Sander’s individual stats were not significantly better than Gabriel’s.

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