It did not take long for Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson to commit his first turnover of the 2026 season.
The Browns received the ball first against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday afternoon. With the sun shining down in Florida, Watson was moving the ball up the field with relative ease. He completed a 14-yard pass and a 9-yard pass on his first two throws.
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Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson warms up before an NFL football matchup at EverBank Stadium on Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026, in Jacksonville, Fla. (USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect)
Cleveland was all the way up to the Jaguars’ 33-yard line on its first four plays of the game. Then, disaster struck.
Watson dropped back to pass and didn’t appear to see Jaguars linebacker Foyesade Oluokun dropping back into coverage. Oluokun intercepted Watson and brought the ball back to the Jaguars’ 41-yard line.
It’s definitely not the start Watson would have hoped for amid a tumultuous few weeks.
Browns fans booed Watson during the preseason and sparked terse remarks from the quarterback.
Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson throws before an NFL football game against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026, in Jacksonville. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
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“It’s a disrespectful thing,” Watson said of the fan reaction in August. “So, yeah, I mean, I’m going to keep whatever I feel with me and my family internally on how I feel about that.
“Last time I played on this field, I tore my Achilles. And that same fan base, they cheered when I got hurt. So what does that have to do with anything about performance when a person gets hurt, especially for your own city? And they cheer.”
Watson admitted he lost his cool in the moment and apologized for his remarks.
The comments still cast a dark cloud over the Browns going into the 2026 season. Former New York Jets and Buffalo Bills head coach Rex Ryan said on ESPN’s “Sunday NFL Countdown” that the Browns should have benched Watson.
“No way would I have started him,” he said. “No way. In fact, I would have cut him. I mean, that press conference right there. There’s no more important thing than that fan base. No way in hell. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.”
Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson looks to pass during the second half against the Buffalo Bills at Huntington Bank Field in Cleveland, Ohio, on Aug. 22, 2026. (IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect)
Shedeur Sanders is waiting in the wings to take over if things go really awry for Watson.
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After the Cleveland turnover, Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence found a diving Parker Washington for a 30-yard touchdown to go up early in the first quarter.