Deshaun Watson saw his first on-field NFL action since Oct. 20, 2024, when the Cleveland Browns traveled to Soldier Field to face the Chicago Bears in Week 1 of the 2026 NFL preseason. Browns coach Todd Monken came away from his team's 34-10 loss impressed by what he had seen from the 30-year-old quarterback. "It was awesome," Monken said when asked about Watson's performance during his postgame news conference. "It was so cool to watch him play. I mean, I get all of the frustration by fans, himself but for him to come back and work like he did is an unbelievable credit to him." "He was having fun today, and that is so cool," Monken added. "And I thought he functioned at a high level. Certainly, we don't wanna be taking timeouts. We sure as heck can't take delay of games, but it was fun watching him play and watching us put the next step forward and see where we're at."
NATE DAVIS: Browns should just give Shedeur Sanders the QB1 job – now | Opinion Monken further outlined that his goal with Watson was to "get his feet wet a little bit" and see whether the quarterback could quickly regain his confidence and enjoyment of the game in his return to the field. "What I wanted to see was how comfortable he was leading up to the game, how comfortable he was in the huddle," Monken said." Monken felt Watson accomplished that goal as the veteran quarterback completed 11 of 15 passes for 126 yards while playing the entire first half. Though Monken was pleased with Watson's performance, the first-year coach made it clear he will not be altering his plans for Cleveland's quarterback competition. "I'm not ready to say it yet," Monken said when asked about the quarterback competition. "The plan was always to get through the Bills game, switch up who is gonna start, who is gonna play in the second half and then we'll go from there." As such, Shedeur Sanders will be afford an opportunity to start that preseason Week 2 game against the Buffalo Bills. He and Watson will split the first-team reps at joint practices ahead of that contest, with Monken noting that will also be an important part of Cleveland's quarterback competition. While Monken noted his disdain for the turnovers his quarterbacks committed, he ultimately came away from the first preseason contest encouraged by what he had seen. "I was really pleased with our quarterback play. It's not gonna feel like that. Turn it over three times, that's never gonna be ideal. But, to me, it felt to me like we are gonna be able to throw the football [and] be effective in that." This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Todd Monken praises 'awesome' Deshaun Watson, gives update on Browns QB battle