Browns reporter squashes big Deshaun Watson, Shedeur Sanders narrative

Reports have hinted that first-year Cleveland Browns head coach Todd Monken is preparing to start Deshaun Watson over Shedeur Sanders at quarterback for Cleveland's Week 1 game at the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sept. 13.

During the latest edition of the "Orange and Brown Talk Podcast," Browns beat reporter Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer insisted that Cleveland's depth chart is not written in pen ahead of Memorial Day. 

Deshaun Watson has not defeated Shedeur Sanders in Browns' quarterback competition just yet

"We don’t know who the starter is going to be yet," Cabot said about the Browns' quarterback situation. "Just because I reported that Deshaun emerged from voluntary minicamp ahead, and just because I have heard from several sources that he has continued to receive the QB1 reps in Phase Two of the program, or at least he’s up first most of the time, that doesn’t mean he’s going to win the competition." 

Monken seemingly wants to identify his Week 1 starter before the Browns' mandatory minicamp wraps up on June 11. Assuming that is the case, one would think Sanders doesn't have much of a chance to catch up in the quarterback battle via his performances in what are often viewed as glorified walkthroughs. 

Deshaun Watson may have to answer big question during mandatory minicamp

That said, Watson hasn't faced a live defense in a meaningful game since he suffered a torn Achilles tendon in October 2024. Watson later re-injured the Achilles during his recovery, and he spent all of last season rehabbing from that setback. 

"We do not know what kind of mobility Deshaun is going to have coming off of back-to-back ruptured Achilles," Cabot continued. "And it wasn’t just two separate ruptured Achilles. He ruptured his Achilles during that Bengals game, and then he re-ruptured the same injury. So it kind of just snapped on him. It didn’t hold up, basically. So now, they better hope that they used, like, some kind of tire tread to keep that thing together. Because who knows?"

Cabot's update indicates that Monken and Co. plan to test Watson's Achilles as much as possible between May 19 and the final day of mandatory minicamp. How his body responds to those challenges could determine whether or not Monken keeps the competition for the starting job going through at least Cleveland's first preseason game in August.