NFL scheduler admits to avoiding Browns-Texans matchup in Week 1

But North did admit to something else — they avoided having Watson face his former team, the Houston Texans, in Week 1.

“We knew that Houston and Cleveland were obviously gonna play each other this year. And Cleveland at Houston is gonna mean something,” North said, via Pro Football Talk. “I’ll be honest with you, we did see a schedule, somewhere along the hundreds of thousands that we looked at this year, where that game was in Week number one. And I’m just not sure that would have been the right place for it, right? That’s maybe not the right, you know, game that we want all eyes on, attention on, you know, taking attention away from some of these other big tentpoles … in Week 1. So other than maybe really just thinking about where that because where that actual Cleveland at Houston game fell, there really wasn’t a lot of attention paid because, honestly, none of us knows what’s gonna happen.”

Watson’s Cleveland Browns are scheduled to visit the Texans in Week 13 instead.

Watson did not play at all last season while remaining on the Texans’ roster. The 26-year-old quarterback was traded to the Browns this offseason. The trade came after Watson was not criminally charged despite facing numerous allegations of improper sexual behavior while receiving and seeking massages. The NFL has not officially handed down any discipline to Watson. NFL rules allow the commissioner to discipline a player despite the absence of criminal charges.