Browns QB Watson has shoulder surgery, out for season
Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson had surgery Tuesday in Los Angeles to repair a fracture in his right shoulder, an injury that ended his second season in Cleveland after just nine games.
Watson was already dealing with a strained right rotator cuff when he suffered the break in his throwing shoulder during the first half against Baltimore on Nov. 12.
The Browns said shoulder specialist Dr. Neal ElAttrache performed the surgery to fix the displaced fracture of Watson's right glenoid (socket).
The 28-year-old will begin rehab later this week and the team expects Watson to be fully recovered “prior to the start of the 2024 season.”
Watson has played just 12 of 34 possible games since the Browns acquired him last season, signing him to a $230 million contract that's fully guaranteed. He was suspended 11 games in 2022 by the NFL for violating the personal conduct policy after being accused of sexual assault and harassment by two dozen women.
Despite his shoulder being broken, Watson stayed in the game against the Ravens while also dealing with a high left ankle sprain. He completed all 14 pass attempts in the second half and rallied the Browns to a 33-31 win.
With Watson lost following his best win since coming to Cleveland, rookie Dorian Thompson-Robinson started Sunday against Pittsburgh. He completed four passes in the final 1:18 to set up Dustin Hopkins' game-winning field goal as the Browns beat the Steelers 13-10.
STEELERS FIRE OC >> Mike Tomlin kept waiting for the offense Matt Canada put together to show signs of life. Signs of progress. Signs of the kind of dynamic play required to get where the franchise so desperately wants to go. The signs never came. Not often enough or consistent enough anyway.
Not in 2021, when Canada and Ben Roethlisberger reached a frosty detente before squeaking into the playoffs. Not in 2022, when Mitch Trubisky and Kenny Pickett carried a game plan designed exclusively to minimize risk.
And certainly not this year, when the weeks passed and the progress Tomlin kept expecting to see never materialized amid a flurry of three-andouts, field goals and narrow escapes largely orchestrated by the defense.
By Tuesday morning, Tomlin had seen enough, firing Canada in a nearly unprecedented in-season move for one of the most stable clubs in the NFL.
Pittsburgh hadn't made an in-season coaching change at the coordinator level or higher since going through three head coaches in 1941.
Tomlin felt as if he ran out of options with the
Steelers (6-4) ranking near the bottom of the league in every statistical offensive category ahead of a trip to Cincinnati (5-5) on Sunday.
Pittsburgh is 28th in points and yards, and Pickett's development has stalled in a season in which Tomlin expected him to “kill it.”
COLTS WAIVE THREE-TIME ALL-PRO LEONARD >>
Indianapolis waived three-time All-Pro linebacker Shaquille Leonard in a surprising move after the Colts played themselves back into the playoff race.
The decision to part ways with Leonard, the 2018 AP NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year, comes shortly after he complained publicly about his decreased playing this season.
Indy (5-5) was trying to bring back the playmaking linebacker slowly after undergoing two back surgeries to repair a nerve injury. RAVENS TE ANDREWS HAS SURGERY ON HIS INJURED ANKLE >> Baltimore Ravens tight end Mark Andrews had surgery on his injured ankle, according to a person with knowledge of the operation.
Andrews was injured in Thursday's 34-20 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals. Coach John Harbaugh said after that game Andrews would probably miss the rest of the season, although he expressed cautious optimism Monday that Andrews might be able to return at some point.
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