DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum Deshaun Watson today

Even taking emotion out of it, him sustaining another season-ending injury is probably the best case scenario for both this season and next. That sounds crappy to say, but with his recent and historic performance, wanting to see what we have in the young'ins and the WRs, and the insurance policy that gives us salary cap relief for next year, this is logically pretty clear.

Let him play until the wheel falls off the wagon.

FYI: It appears that there is no insurance that covers 2026.

And Bone is spot on (again)...DW thinks he's practicing and playing well. Remarkable.

:-(

Well, that's some b.s.

And thanks a lot, Willie... couldn't you have just waited til 0-3 when full apathy set in before you told us that??

Agreed and IMO all this could be having a negative effect on the team. It can't be good for team morale.

When an organization finds itself in a vulnerable position and faces intense media pressure, the people in charge will normally try to control the flow of information. The last thing they need is a series of poorly considered statements creating even more problems.

Management can, for example, tell everyone to keep a low profile until the media storm has calmed down. Careless or controversial comments often create more questions than answers, drain energy from the organization, and shift the focus toward all the wrong things.

This falls within the general manager’s area of responsibility and decision-making. So, once again, the problems created by Watson’s comments ultimately become a leadership issue.

You cannot completely prevent employees from speaking publicly, but you can coordinate the communication and try to control the flow of information.

Of course, it is possible that Andrew Berry is deliberately allowing Watson to keep talking and dig his own grave. If that is the strategy, it represents an extremely sophisticated form of leadership requiring long-term and carefully calculated planning.

I would genuinely love to believe that is what we are witnessing. Unfortunately, I have never seen that level of professional management from this organization before.

That is why I lean toward the simpler explanation: most things in Berea appear to be reactive rather than proactive. Things happen to them instead of the organization shaping the narrative and directing events through intelligent leadership and carefully planned communication.

Perhaps Berry really is playing four-dimensional chess and allowing Watson to eliminate himself from the equation. If so, it may be the first master plan in NFL history that looks exactly like nobody has a plan.

I think the plan all along was for Watson to start the two opening away games to protect Shedufus, then start Shedufus at home. The best case is Shedufus plays well enough that we can trade him either this season or going in to next. He can't be on the team once we draft a new QB.

J/c
Lots of speculation, which is understandable, but I draw the line at some of the motivational guesswork implying Berry wants Watson to talk himself out of a job or something.... I was never a Stefanski fan other than his anomaly COVID season, but even when he left TJ Watt one on one with the 3rd strong OT on back to back (to back?) plays and we saw watt run free and clear thru to the QB... I never tried to suggest it was anything other than bad coaching, not buying into a HC trying to deliberately get his player injured.

We'll watch this play out. It looked/felt like Monken was damn close to yanking Watson in game 1. I don't expect to see Watson finish the TB game if he is so inept again.

I do expect to see improvement from DW and the team... Hard to play that badly again.