The Cleveland Browns fell to the Cincinnati Bengals this past weekend due in no small part to another forgettable showing by quarterback Deshaun Watson.
Watson, who made his first regular season appearance in more than 700 days last week, continued to struggle to shake the rust off. He finished the game with 276 passing yards, one touchdown and one interception on 26-of-42 passing.
The Browns ended up losing 23-10 in the process, falling to 0-2 in the Deshaun Watson Era.
One interesting side plot that emerged during the game was eagle-eyed fans noticing who was massaging Watson nowadays after his highly-publicized legal woes where more than 20 civil lawsuits were filed against him by massage therapists alleging sexual maleficence.
The imagery and reactions largely speak for themselves:
Deshaun Watson going through withdrawals thinking about the old days….pic.twitter.com/MrQbE3yN20
— BLACK ADAM SCHEFTER (@B1ackSchefter) December 12, 2022
It’s so bad @deshaunwatson has to massage his own leg.
— CjG (@Curt_Gast) December 11, 2022
Deshaun Watson was just massaging his leg… You can’t make this shit up, dude is fragile as hell. 😭
— BasedIn410 (@Based_In410) December 11, 2022
Please someone tell me they have the picture of #happyendingguy playing with his leg @Browns @deshaunwatson pic.twitter.com/lSXMbp2MvR
— Carrie Bechtel (@CarrieKing77) December 11, 2022
Watson has been through the ringer as a result of his admitted bad decisions with massage therapists. There is a reason why Houston Texans owner Cal McNair’s wife treated him the way she did last week.
Some people haven’t been able to forget the disturbing messages that were released and the graphic nature of the allegations made against Watson.
Not everyone has been as quick to forget Watson as his girlfriend.
Given all the trouble that massages have gotten Watson into, it is easy to understand why he is now being forced to do this kind of stuff himself.
Dame liked what he saw. https://t.co/ALU8kOQmWN
— Game 7 (@game7__) December 11, 2022
It will be interesting to see how Watson’s time in Cleveland ultimately ends up going. So far it has gotten off to a bumpy start, obviously, but once upon a time he was a top-tier quarterback in the NFL.
If he is able to regain some semblance of that form going forward and leads the Browns to some victories, it will go a long way in shifting the focus off his transgressions.
Should that not happen, though, and if the squad keeps losing with him the way they did without him, expect for Watson’s past to continue to come up in this fashion.
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A graduate from the University of Texas, Anthony Amador has been credentialed to cover the Houston Texans, Dallas Cowboys, San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks and high school games all over the Lone Star State. Currently, his primary beats are the NBA, MLB, NFL and UFC.
