Deshaun Watson Will Start In Week 2 For Browns Vs. Bucs After Week 1 Dud

Deshaun Watson will start again in Week 2.

Cleveland Browns head coach Todd Monken told reporters Monday that Watson will retain his job as starting quarterback for Sunday’s game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Watson’s status was unclear following a 34-10 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday in which Watson threw an interception on Cleveland’s opening possession and the Browns didn’t score a touchdown until the game was long decided with less than two minutes remaining.

“I anticipate that Deshaun will be our starter,” Monken said when asked about Watson’s status on Monday. “It’s only been two weeks he’s gotten all the reps. And there were some really good things on film. Some things that you can build on. …

“I did think that when he had time, when he understood the concepts, he didn’t play tentative, that he let it rip. Even the touchdown at the end. Sure, that was garbage time.”

Monken added that he believes that Watson has demonstrated reason to believe that he’ll improve with time and more reps.

“There was a lot of things to build on,” Monken continued. “Was it perfect? Of course not. Otherwise we wouldn’t have scored as few points as we did. I’d like to see how we can build on that. I liked his week of practice last week. And I think he’s only going to continue to get better.”

Monken said that he reached the decision to start Watson again after watching film from Sunday’s game.

Why is Watson starting to begin with?

Watson got the start on Sunday after beating out second-year quarterback Shedeur Sanders for the job in the preseason. The start was Watson’s first NFL game action since the 2024 season, when injuries and poor play further derailed his career.

Sanders started seven games in 2025 as a rookie and did nothing to demonstrate that he’s a capable starting NFL quarterback while completing 56.6% of his passes and throwing 7 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. The Browns didn’t improve their quarterback room in the offseason, and Monken was left to decide between Sanders and Watson as his starting quarterback.

This story will be updated.