Browns say Deshaun Watson was off the sideline to avoid risk of an injury in a collision
When the Browns' injured starting quarterback, Deshaun Watson, was spotted in a suite during Sunday's game, many fans questioned why he wasn't on the sideline with his teammates. Those questions were amplified by the sight of the injured active and involved on the Bengals' sideline during Cincinnati's game last week.
But the Browns insist Watson was following doctors' orders.
A Browns spokesman told Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com that the medical staff didn’t want Watson on the sideline because they didn't want to risk a collision that could cause a setback in his recovery from shoulder surgery. All of the Browns' players on injured reserve who attended the game were in the same suite as Watson.
The Browns also say Watson not returning to Cleveland and staying in Los Angeles to begin his rehab after having his surgery there was a medical decision: The doctors didn't want Watson flying back and forth between Cleveland and Los Angeles because of the risk of swelling on a flight.
Sideline incidents do happen in the NFL. Two of them happened on Sunday, with a sideline official in New Orleans suffering a serious leg injury in a collision, and with the security official in Philadelphia getting himself involved in a skirmish with the 49ers. If the Browns think fewer players on the sideline reduces those risks, that makes sense.
So while Watson has been a major disappointment considering what the Browns traded for him and what they're paying him, the particular criticism that he should have been on the sideline is unfair. He was where the team asked him to be.
