HC Kevin Stefanski didn't watch HBO show, insists Browns 'did a lot of work on' Deshaun Watson

Cleveland Browns general manager Andrew Berry and head coach Kevin Stefanski insisted on multiple occasions in March they were comfortable with the club's controversial trade for star quarterback Deshaun Watson, who continues to face 22 civil lawsuits regarding allegations of sexual misconduct. 

Watson has repeatedly maintained his innocence, and two grand juries elected against pursuing criminal charges against him. Nevertheless, two of the women suing him were featured on the latest edition of HBO’s "Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel" that aired Tuesday night. Per Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk, Stefanski admitted on Wednesday that he did not watch the HBO program. 

"I read about it," Stefanski remarked. "We did a lot of work on that. As we’ve talked about, we’ve done a lot of work on Deshaun the person. There’s legal proceedings ongoing, there’s an investigation ongoing so I won’t comment much further than that. We understand, with respect to that, it is something we’re going to be dealing with as these proceedings go on."

As PFT's Mike Florio noted, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell told reporters Tuesday that the league is "nearing the end of the investigative period" that should determine if Watson did anything to earn a suspension that presumably would be announced before the start of the upcoming season. 

The Browns have journeyman Jacoby Brissett preparing to start if Watson is made unavailable to play for any portion of the campaign, but they also have yet to find a trade partner willing to accept former starter Baker Mayfield and the $18.858 million of fully guaranteed salary he's owed for 2022.