Cleveland Browns make Deshaun Watson benching decision with 10-word statement

The Cleveland Browns had their worst start to a season since 2017 following their 20-16 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, with Deshaun Watson once again struggling

Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski believes quarterback Deshaun Watson gives the team the "best chance to win" - confirming his starting spot is safe for now.

In the Browns' 20-16 defeat to the Philadelphia Eagles, Watson's performance was less than impressive, completing 16-of-23 pass attempts for 168 yards and no touchdowns. This is a far cry from what the Browns expected from the 29-year-old when they offered him a five-year, £175million ($230m) fully guaranteed contract, reports the Mirror US.

With the team now at 1-5 for the season - their worst start since 2017 - many are questioning if Stefanski and the Browns might consider benching Watson. However, Stefanski quickly dismissed any idea of a change, as he claimed the quarterback is the team's key to winning.

When asked if the Browns will continue to start the veteran star, the head coach simply replied: "Yes." Despite Watson's struggles, the Browns head coach acknowledged there were positive moments in the loss to the Eagles.

"I think it's just important that we continue to do everything we can to play good, sound football. I think there were moments obviously of that yesterday," Stefanski said. He then confirmed his stance on beching Watson in a 10-word statement, saying: "I think Deshaun gives us the best chance to win," before adding: "We need to play really good offensive football at his position and really at every position to be successful on Sunday."

He added: "Yeah, I thought there were some good moments. Obviously, we need to protect. We need to keep him clean when we can. That's a good front and I thought the guys battled like crazy. Had some decent opportunities there but gotta find a way to be more explosive."

Stefanski also noted that his decision to keep Watson in the starting quarterback position had no influence from other sources other than what is inside his staff. He said: "I don't get caught up in narratives. We have a good dialogue with myself, (general manager) Andrew (Berry), ownership about all things that have to do with this team. They have been nothing but supportive, and any decision when it comes to football is my decision."

When it was Watson's turn to speak to reporters about his performance, the quarterback had few answers to give. When asked what he could change and how the offense could improve overall, the 29-year-old took a long pause before responding.

"Just keep working on them, I guess," Watson said. "Try to rep it in practices as much as possible. The biggest thing, again, each one of us got to lock in and we just have to reflect it."

Watson also believes the Browns need to stop metaphorically "shooting" themselves in the foot as he pointed out missed opportunities on the field. He said: "Putting ourselves at third and long, when we do capitalize on third down, there's a penalty.

"Goal line, just being able to score and going back, especially last week, right there at the one or three or two and we're going backwards. And that's two weeks in a row where things could have went differently. Who knows but that's tough. Super tough."

Statistically, Watson has struggled with his efficiency on the field. Since the start of the season up to Week 6, he's racked up a negative total EPA of -66.2, which is the lowest recorded from a QB since the year 2000.

The dubious distinction was previously held by ex-Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Jamarcus Russell, with a marginally less -63.8.

In a damning team statistic, the Browns have failed to score over 20 points in each of their first six games for the first time in ten years, managing only one touchdown in their last 29 drives. Watson's form has been so poor that NFL icon Terry Bradshaw mistakenly thought the Browns should "put down" Watson instead of benching him.

"Do you put Watson down now?" Bradshaw said. "He has not played well since he has been in Cleveland, simply not played well."

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