Watson staying patient after struggling in Browns debut

Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson knows he has plenty to work on after a rough first outing with his new side against the Houston Texans.

"Just being out there playing football, doing what I'm doing, and finding myself - all that stuff's gotta come back," Watson said.

Watson threw for 131 yards with zero touchdowns and one interception in the Browns' 27-14 win over the Texans. Cleveland did not score an offensive touchdown.

"I don't know when it's gonna come back. I don't know if it's last week or this week. My job is to keep getting better, and when it clicks, it clicks," Watson added.

This was Watson's first game back after serving an 11-game suspension for violating the NFL's personal conduct policy.

Watson spent five seasons in Houston, throwing for 14,359 yards and 104 touchdowns. He didn't play in 2021 after requesting a trade the preceding offseason, and his first game in over 700 days ultimately came against his former team.

"Last week was a lot," Watson said when asked if playing against his former team affected his play. "The anticipation of being back on the field, the anticipation of going back to my former team, the anticipation of playing against former teammates and being back in front of a crowd that used to cheer for me. All that stuff was definitely a lot."

Watson added that most of his issues were due to "mechanics" and "fundamentals."

The 27-year-old will look to bounce back on Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals.