The Cleveland Brown’s 2024 season is over

The sky is falling. It is time to panic. Pull the ripcord now. Football is cancelled. 

Deshaun Watson didn’t take a single in-game snap during preseason, the left tackle position is a swinging gate to the quarterback, and worst of all, the Browns lost every preseason game. The Season is doomed. 

Or maybe it isn’t.

Someone might need to tell the Browns fans heading for the exits on the 2024 season that the preseason record doesn’t matter. At least, it didn’t matter in 2017, when the Browns went 4-0 in the preseason and promptly went 0-16 in the regular season. Remember that?

The league is in a curious spot right now. Given the recent changes to the preseason, there isn't much of a standard practice for how teams approach their games. Some teams put their starters out there for a half, some for a drive, some refuse to play anyone at all. Matthew Stafford didn’t take a single snap in the preseason for the LA Rams and I don’t hear many Rams fans worried about rust. 

Here is why you shouldn’t worry about Watson’s lack of in-game preseason play - instead of playing for a few drives against a group of practice squad players from Seattle, he has gotten 4 solid weeks of work against the best defensive squad in the NFL from last year. Sure, Watson hasn’t been taking hits in the training camp practices, but reps against the current Browns defense in any format are more valuable than taking snaps against B team players in preseason games. 

Think about it this way - if Deshaun had played on Saturday night in Seattle, what outcome would have given Browns fans confidence that he is ready to go for Week 1 against Dallas? If he had gone down the field for one drive, went 5/5 for 50 yards and a TD, would all the questions be answered? Or would dissenters say “great, let's see him do it against the starters.” If he had taken a few hits and got up would there be hope that he has recovered fully from his shoulder injury? Or would there just be more concern about the state of the offensive line?

In the playing of their franchise quarterback on a rainy night, a few thousand miles from home, in a game that didn't matter, the Browns had nothing to gain, and an entire football season to lose. 

So no, the season is not over. Do the Browns still have offensive line issues to address before September 8th? Yes. Does Deshaun Watson still have to do a lot to prove he can regain the form he had in 2020 with the Houston Texans? Of course. Conklin and Wills are both starting to do some work at the left tackle position, and might be back in time for Dallas. Deshaun has looked crisp for a lot of camp, and especially in the portions of joint practices that were open to the media. 

I can’t stand the idea of entering September without hope, so when it comes to the Browns in 2024, I am geared up and ready to get hurt again.