NFL News: Browns coach gets real on Deshaun Watson's return

The Cleveland Browns made one of the biggest/most controversial moves of the NFL offseason. Trading for Deshaun Watson sure raised plenty of criticism around the league, but it’s evident they couldn’t care less.

The league handed Watson a big suspension, and he wasn’t eligible to practice until last week. Now, he’s set to take over Jacoby Brissett andmake his long-awaited debut to try and lead his team to the playoffs.

Needless to say, some people are concerned about his lack of playing time after sitting out all of last season. But HC Kevin Stefanski believes he’ll be just fine when he takes on the Houston Texans.

NFL News: Kevin Stefanski Isn’t Worried About Deshaun Watson’s Lack Of Reps

“I think Deshaun has the support of his teammates, has the support of this organization,” Stefanski said. “Really right now, his focus and my focus is on the Houston game and that’s what we have to do as players, as coaches, is put the blinders on. Whatever’s going on the outside really can’t matter to us. We’ve got to focus on doing our job. And I think he definitely understands that.”

“I certainly get it but can’t really control that for me and for Deshaun and for all of our players,” he added. “Just gotta keep the focus on doing our job. Think about there’s some guys that don’t play in preseason football and then they get in there week 1, need to get tackled first time before they feel like they’re ready to go. So I think some of those things may be true, but I don’t wanna put anything on Deshaun. I think it’s unfair for me to say at this point, we don’t know.”

Watson is one of the best dual-threat quarterbacks in the league when healthy, but even the best need some time to get their legs back under him. Unfortunately, the Browns cannot afford to wait any longer as they’re 4-7 for the season.