Speaking with the media on the second day of mandatory minicamp Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson talked about having fun again on the football field. After being away from the game for so an extended period following his suspension last season, Watson said that last year he focused on getting back into the swing of things.
During his availability, he talked about working with head coach Kevin Stefanki and offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt to become more comfortable in the offense. Watson looked more relaxed and confident both on the field and while speaking with the media. Let’s take a look at what he had to say on Wednesday in Berea:
How much improvement do you feel you’ve made or how much further ahead are you at this time last year?
“I’m pretty far ahead of where I was last year. Last year was, as far as football, being on the field, just running a new system, trying to adapt to different teammates, different players, how guys run routes, how Kevin calls the plays, and just being able to process the game at the speed I know. Being a year in and being able to talk to Kevin and AVP about what we want to do and being confident about it, it allows me to play a little bit faster when I’m on the field.”
Just how much fun are you having out there and how good do you feel?
“I feel really good. Like I said before, the biggest thing is the confidence level. Who I am trusting, what I do trust in the work that I put in these past couple of years to get back to this position I’m in. And have the opportunity to go out there and try to win some games and do it with the guys that we have on the field. So I’m enjoying myself, I’m having fun, and I just keep stacking days.”
You also mentioned the confidence. Is that something that you always knew would come back?
“Most definitely, because this is for anybody, if you stop doing something for so long, you just naturally lose that confidence because you haven’t been playing at that level. So you forget your body and your muscle memory, forget how fast and how to do things, but it never loses it. So whenever I got back on the field last year, I was building that confidence up. Took a break, came back, tried to build it back up. But having this offseason and being full throttle definitely have caught back up with me. Like I said before, I just keep stacking days.”
It looked to me like the receivers were outstanding yesterday. Do you agree with that?
“Of course. Everyone in that locker room, especially the receivers, the skilled guys, the tight ends, even the running backs have been locked in. And it starts with me, it starts with the quarterback room, with me, Josh, Kellen, and DT. We got to come up here and lead the guys in the huddle, have that confidence, that energy, and as we do that, then the receiver is going to do that and they know that everyone can get the ball. It doesn’t matter who’s in the game. Amari, Elijah, Mike Harley, anybody. Ced, if he’s out there, he’s able to get the ball. You got to be full speed, got to know what to do and be ready to catch the ball when it comes. So it all starts with the quarterback position.”
Have you had a couple of those moments yourself where you’re like, okay, that’s me?
“I guess you can say that. I try not to get too high, not too low. I just try to stay balanced. Of course, I have some excitement with a couple of throws and all that, but at the same time I’m just training myself, regardless of how good that throw was or how bad it was, I always stay balanced because that’s what you’re going to have to do in the game. It’s always the next play. So just getting back to the basics of my mentality of what I was before and that’s what I just continued.”
I know we’ve gotten to see Marquise’s vertical speed. Like when you have a guy like that, who can run routes like that, how does it open up your offense as a whole for you in the pass game?
“It can be scary, because the secondary and the defense have to watch out for them. So you have to make sure you get your depth if you’re playing defense and keep your eyes on whatever you got, whatever that defense is trying to do. So it kind of opens up other guys underneath, because if that guy runs by and if we can hit those deep shots, that can open up the run game and also the intermediate and short game in the pass.”
Going off of that, you’re talking about comfortability. What areas specifically on the field are you feeling like you’re gaining more confidence?
“Just the mental game, the mental aspect. I think last year was just a little bit slower because I was trying to catch up with all the guys whenever I came back, Week 13 or 12, whatever it was. Just really just trying to pick up the speed of the game and just my eyes and placement. Those little things that people don’t see and don’t realize that kind of go into the reps in the mental game, especially playing a quarterback position. So all that is picking up and just got to continue to work at it.”
