Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson had to be carted off the field on Sunday after suffering what appeared to be a significant leg injury in the second quarter of their game against the Cincinnati Bengals.
It was a non-contact injury, with Watson stumbling and falling to the ground. He was in obvious pain.
After remaining down for several minutes, he was eventually carted off the field and was shown on TV with tears in his eyes.
Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski said it looks like Watson suffered a torn Achillies on the play.
Watson’s season has been miserable from a performance standpoint and has resulted in him being one of the least productive quarterbacks in the NFL. That resulted in several calls for the Browns to bench him for backup Jameis Winston.
Entering play on Sunday Watson’s 22.0 total QBR was the worst among the NFL’s quarterbacks, while the offense had failed to top 300 yards or 20 points in any of their first six games, something that has not been done in more than a decade for any NFL team.
Before his injury, Watson had completed 15-of-17 passes for 128 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions on Sunday.
Stefanski has been adamant that Watson gives the team the best chance to win, and has refused to even consider a change. Now he might not have a choice in the matter.
In an interesting twist on Sunday, the Browns did not have Winston as the backup quarterback and instead made him the emergency third quarterback on the gameday roster. Dorian Thompson-Robinson entered the game as the No. 2 quarterback on the depth chart and entered the game in place of Watson.
