A report on Monday morning indicated that Browns planned to turn back to Deshaun Watson at quarterback for their Week 10 games against the Texans, but head coach Todd Monken declined to make any announcement during a press conference later in the day.
Monken is scheduled to speak to reporters again on Wednesday and the day opened with multiple reports that Watson will indeed start against his former team. Shedeur Sanders started in last Sunday’s loss to the Saints after Watson missed two days of practice while working through the concussion protocol. Watson was cleared on Saturday, but was inactive with Dillon Gabriel serving as the team’s No. 2 quarterback.
Sanders was 19-of-31 for 297 yards and two touchdowns before failing to complete a two-point conversion in overtime that would have won the game. Monken said after the game that he was “proud” of the way the quarterback played in his first start of the season, but avoided a question about whether Sanders showed enough to make a case to move up the depth chart permanently.
The Browns offense only generated six points in their Week 8 loss to the Steelers with Watson at the helm and they have a bye in Week 11, so another lackluster outing against Houston could lead to a different decision at quarterback in the future.