Deshaun Watson will start in Week 2 for Browns vs. Bucs after Week 1 dud

Deshaun Watson will start again in Week 2. Cleveland Browns head coach Todd Monken told reporters Monday that Watson will retain his job as starting quarterback for Sunday's game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers .

Watson's status was unclear following a 34-10 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday in which he threw an interception on Cleveland's opening possession and the Browns didn't score a touchdown until the game was long decided with less than two minutes remaining.

"I anticipate that Deshaun will be our starter," Monken said when asked about Watson's status on Monday. "It's only been two weeks he's gotten all the reps. And there were some really good things on film. Some things that you can build on. …

"I did think that when he had time, when he understood the concepts, he didn't play tentative, that he let it rip. Even the touchdown at the end. Sure, that was garbage time."

Monken added that he believes that Watson has demonstrated reason to believe that he'll improve with time and more reps.

"There was a lot of things to build on," Monken continued. "Was it perfect? Of course not. Otherwise we wouldn't have scored as few points as we did. I'd like to see how we can build on that. I liked his week of practice last week. And I think he's only going to continue to get better."

Monken said he reached the decision to start Watson again after watching film from Sunday's game.

Watson got the start on Sunday after beating out second-year quarterback Shedeur Sanders for the job in the preseason. The start was Watson's first NFL game action since the 2024 season, when injuries and poor play further derailed his career.

Sanders started seven games in 2025 as a rookie and did nothing to demonstrate that he's a capable starting NFL quarterback while completing 56.6% of his passes and throwing seven touchdowns and 10 interceptions. The Browns didn't improve their quarterback room in the offseason, and Monken was left to decide between Sanders and Watson as his starting quarterback.

Cleveland's offense was largely inept on Sunday as Jacksonville opened a 31-0 lead in the third quarter. The Browns drove inside Jacksonville's 30-yard line on their opening possession, but Watson threw an interception on his third pass of the game.

Watson later fumbled a ball that the Browns recovered and struggled at times to identify open receivers downfield . Cleveland's only touchdown arrived with 1:56 remaining in a 24-point game when Watson found Denzel Boston with a 46-yard pass into the end zone that salvaged his final stat line.

Watson finished the day completing 16-of-22 passes for 205 yards with 1 touchdown, 1 interception and 1 fumble. He took five sacks.

Will Watson still be Cleveland's starter in first home game?

After the game, Monken was non-committal about Watson's status for Week 2, which, like Sunday, will take place on the road. Cleveland won't have its first home game until Week 3 against the Carolina Panthers .

Browns fans aren't happy with Watson, who's been a bust on the field since the Browns traded for him in 2022 despite a scandal in which he was accused of sexual misconduct by 27 women . They booed him during his only home appearance in the preseason, and Watson responded by chastising them while speaking with media.

A three-time Pro Bowler with the Houston Texans , Watson has struggled with poor play and injuries during his entire Browns stint. His time as Cleveland's starter appeared to be done in 2024, but when Cleveland failed to upgrade its quarterback room, he got the job again for at least the first two weeks of this season.