Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson has struggled throwing the ball this season and the team’s offense has struggled across the board, so it’s no surprise that people are looking at every possible option to get things moving in a better direction.
One question at Watson’s Wednesday press conference dealt with whether the quarterback thinks his legs can be part of the solution. Watson has run 14 times for 85 yards this season, but he ran a bit more often during his last three full seasons with the Texans and he was asked if he thought more designed runs would be a positive for the offense.
“I’m not going in there to ask them for more designed runs. . . . If I don’t have to run, I’m not going to run,” Watson said, via Daniel Oyefusi of ESPN.com. “I’m not trying to take any hits. . . . I’m not a running quarterback, in a sense. I can make things happen, but I’m not trying to run. I’m not a running back. It’s not my specialty. They signed me to throw the ball, make decisions and be a quarterback, not a runner.”
Watson noted that he’s also coming off shoulder surgery and doesn’t think it is a “high priority” for head coach Kevin Stefanski to put him in those positions. Given that Watson ranks at or near the bottom of the league in most passing metrics, Stefanski is going to have to figure something out because more of the same is going to push the Browns season into irrelevance sooner rather than later.
