Watson starting Browns’ preseason opener as suspension looms

The Browns’ planned first game with Deshaun Watson as quarterback is still in flux.

The same can be said regarding his debut year with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

While the quarterback waits to see if the NFL is successful in keeping him off the field for the full season, Watson is set to start the exhibition opener at Jacksonville on Friday. This will be his first game action since 2020.

The three-time Pro Bowler may be banned from the NFL for a year and fined millions of dollars for alleged sexual misbehavior with more than two dozen women while he was with the Houston Texans.

An independent arbitrator handed down a six-game suspension to Watson last week, but the league is appealing in the hopes of getting a harsher sentence, along with a hefty fine and the need that Watson get therapy before he can be reinstated.

There should be a decision on that front soon.

The Browns, in the meantime, will go see Watson play. It’s unclear when they’ll be able to return.

As of right now, Watson’s last game with the Texans is planned for January 3, 2021, therefore his upcoming game against the Jaguars will be his first game back.

Before he was accused of assault and harassment by the ladies during the massage treatment sessions he planned on Instagram, 26-year-old Watson sat out last season after seeking a trade.