Browns QB Deshaun Watson getting to know his new targets, with or without DeAndre Hopkins

ROCKY RIVER — The talk since Friday has revolved around the potential of reuniting quarterback Deshaun Watson with his former Houston Texans teammate DeAndre Hopkins on the Browns. That talk goes hand-in-hand with the conversation which has really surrounded the team since last season ended.

Those conversations have centered on how to make the Browns even better on offense around Watson, the two-time Pro Bowl quarterback upon whom the weight of their success or failure next season rests. With or without another move to add Hopkins, the organization has walked the walk to back up the talk.

The Browns traded for receiver Elijah Moore. They signed receiver Marquise Goodwin and tight end Jordan Akins in free agency, while drafting University of Tennessee receiver Cedric Tillman last month.

Deshaun Watson on DeAndre Hopkins: Deshaun Watson 'would love to have' former Texans teammate DeAndre Hopkins with Browns

Before Watson and the rest of the Browns players arrived at Westwood Country Club late Tuesday morning for the Browns Foundation's charity golf outing, they went through their fourth of what will be seven voluntary offseason team activities. It was the fourth time the quarterback has been able to work on the field with many of the new faces he'll be throwing to this season.

"It's coming along very, very well," Watson said Tuesday. "I mean all the guys, you got to be able to adjust. This is our first time, I think last week was our first time actually on the field throwing full speed routes against defenders, so that time is going to come. But we've been spending a lot of time together in the film room and outside of the building, so that chemistry and that connection of just us being around each other and knowing how we going to react in certain situations is definitely building."

The Browns are scheduled to have three more OTAs this week before a three-day minicamp next week. They'll be off after that until the start of training camp, which is expected the next-to-last week of July.

Several of the Browns' holdovers at the skill positions have not been working in drills during OTAs. The most notable of those has been Amari Cooper, who's coming off a 1,160-yard receiving season but had February surgery on a core muscle injury.

"Well, I think part of it is Amari's not practicing yet," said Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski, who indicated Cooper was expected to participate more this week. "So certainly those reps have to go to other guys. So it's all part of the process. I don't think you can skip a step when you're doing it this way. I think every individual period matters. Every walkthrough matters as you integrate new players into your system."

Which leads to the topic du jour, Watson's former top target Hopkins. The Arizona Cardinals have released the three-time All-Pro first-teamer, and that's naturally led some of the conversation toward a Cleveland reunion between quarterback and receiver.

Hopkins certainly would add to the Browns' receiving corps with his 11,298 career receiving yards, including 717 in nine games with Arizona a year ago. That would be the most career production by anyone at the position group, by 3,062 yards over Cooper's career 8,236 yards.

That would also add another receiver to try and keep happy with targets. Watson isn't worried about that, whether Hopkins is or isn't in Cleveland.

"I don't think so, as long as all those guys in the room just want to succeed and help each other win," Watson said. "I think at this point, with the guys that we have in our room, I don't think anyone is caring about stats. I don't think Coop is caring about stats. I don't think (Donovan Peoples-Jones) or Elijah. Everyone just want to win. And if we all win then we all eat and we have one big celebration in this city. So that's the key."

Until there's resolution one way or the other to Hopkins' future, his name will hang over the Browns like a specter. The thing is, you can't develop chemistry with a ghost.

So that goes back to the players who have been working with Watson and the Browns offense. For now, it's just a bunch of guys in just helmets running around in essentially no-contact drills.

Watson, though, isn't dismissing the benefits to that time together.

"I think it's the timing, being able to understand their breaks and how they get in and out of different routes," Watson said. "And when man coverage come along, who can I rely on? Who can I go to when we need it at the most? And I feel like all those guys at the time right now, of course it's still early, have those capabilities of being that guy. So going into the season, when that time comes to it, the ball can go to anybody and that person can make a play. So that's a beautiful thing for us to be able to have."

Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on Twitter at @ceasterlingABJ.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Deshaun Watson finding comfort with new Cleveland Browns targets