Why Browns are coy about what’s at stake for Deshaun Watson, Kevin Stefanski this season

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. — Jimmy Haslam tried to walk the line while declining to define it.

The Cleveland Browns co-team owner cautioned that “I think it’s really dangerous” to float “now or never” timelines or to predetermine thresholds on which to judge his coaches and players in a game of variability. He declined to ensure his team must reach the playoffs to earn his vote of confidence or to otherwise quantify what success for the 2023 Browns will look like.

“I’m not saying the expectations aren’t high,” Haslam said Monday afternoon from training camp. “I’m just not going to draw a line for you as to what they are. They’re high.

“All of us have high expectations.”

Without the extenuating circumstances that have clouded recent years for the franchise, those expectations are also acutely visible.

Head coach Kevin Stefanski and general manager Andrew Berry enter their fourth seasons with what Haslam believes is the most stability yet in their tenure. The COVID-19 pandemic of their first season is no longer a world health emergency; the injuries to quarterback Baker Mayfield in their second season now stem from a different quarterback era. Last season, after the Browns’ blockbuster trade for quarterback Deshaun Watson, he missed the first 11 games while serving a league suspension as a result of sexual misconduct allegations. On and off the field, the team was often in motion.

Now, as the Browns ramp up their first week of training camp in the mountains of West Virginia, team leaders feel like they can focus more fully on maximizing their personnel and scheme to win than in recent years.

So it’s worth asking: What are reasonable expectations for the Browns this season? What’s on the line for their leadership? And how is Deshaun Watson influencing all of this?

Full offseason with Watson at QB1

After an NFL investigation determined Watson had violated the league’s personal conduct policy multiple times, the league fined Watson $5 million and suspended him 11 games. Watson’s disciplinary measures also required him to undergo a professional evaluation by behavioral experts and follow their treatment program.

Watson said this week that “I didn’t take that lightly.”

“He spent a lot of time in counseling,” Browns co-team owner Dee Haslam said. “I leave all of that to the professionals. His counselor, evidently he’s grown really closely and he has said over and over, ‘I have learned so much.’ Hopefully he’ll continue to grow through that process.”

Watson is also working to grow as a leader and quarterback.

He addressed the entire team Saturday night in an exercise that Stefanski calls “the four H’s,” in which players and coaches are invited one-by-one to share their history, heroes, heartbreaks and hopes. He said he’s aiming to show more personality this year than last, when quarterback Jacoby Brissett was debuting as starter for more than half the season, leaving teammates unclear whom to turn to when both were present at camp.

Now, Watson is clearly taking the first-team reps in the bright orange “4” jersey that reflects his protected position. Stefanski and his staff can tailor the offense to Watson’s strengths, in conversation with him as they build a shared vision.

Watson is vocal in those conversations.

“He loves to pause the tape and say, ‘All right, what could we do here? What if we ran this? What if we did that?’” Stefanski told Yahoo Sports during a Monday afternoon sitdown. “And that fits right in with me and our coaching staff. As you’re constantly striving to be more creative, he fits right in. The good ones want to dive into the rabbit hole.”

The coaching staff will dive into Watson’s film to see how they can capture the quarterback who earned three straight Pro Bowl berths with the Houston Texans. He completed 67.8% of his passes in Houston for 14,539 yards and 104 touchdowns to just 36 interceptions. Watson’s return to play last season, after close to two years off, was far rockier: He completed just 58.2% of his passes, tossing seven touchdowns to five interceptions as the Browns split his starts, 3-3.

Losses this season can no longer be chalked up to rust and suspensions. But the Browns think Watson’s full integration won’t be their only source of improvement.

Why Browns think they’re ‘in a much better position’

Two new coordinators strolled the practice fields Monday. Defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz installed his attack-mindset defense while former Browns player Bubba Vetrone oversaw special teams.

“I don’t want to be negative toward their predecessors,” Jimmy Haslam said Monday, “but I think Jim Schwartz and Bubba Vetrone are going to be big helps to us.” The Browns ranked 20th in scoring defense last season, 14th in total defense. On longtime NFL writer Rick Gosselin’s special teams rankings, the Browns slotted 18th.

Boosting each unit above the middle of the pack could take the pressure off the offense, which hopes to live up to it anyway. Successful hires at those positions would also reflect well on Stefanski after two losing seasons followed his 11-5 rookie campaign.

The task becomes only trickier as the AFC stockpiles high-end quarterbacks, the Browns needing twice a year to face threats in the Cincinnati Bengals’ Joe Burrow and Baltimore Ravens’ Lamar Jackson. Perhaps that stiff competition factors into Haslam’s decision not to publicly announce the playoffs or division title as a measure of success — the road to 2023 division titles is not created equally across the league.

Jimmy Haslam did, however, say he’s “highly confident” Stefanski is the right coach for the job and that his assessment of 2023 success will factor in not only record but also injury occurrence, late-season improvement and momentum. Haslam said he never considered a coaching change for 2023.

“It was an easy decision,” Haslam said. “There was never a thought not to bring Kevin back. I think he’s a good coach. He proved it in the first year, did a tremendous job. Second year we had some bumps and bruises with Baker and his injury. And last year was just difficult.

“We’re in a much better position overall than we were last year.”