When Deshaun Watson will begin throwing; how he feels about new OC Ken Dorsey, and more: Browns Insider

cleveland.com
CLEVELAND, Ohio — Deshaun Watson is on track in his rehab schedule from shoulder surgery — maybe even a little ahead — and will begin throwing soon, a league source told cleveland.com.
Watson, who underwent surgery Nov. 21 to repair his fractured right shoulder socket, is set to begin throwing in March — as soon as a couple of weeks from now — which is a great sign for his participation at least on a limited basis in the Browns’ offseason beginning April 15.
Watson, who only had the fractured glenoid bone repaired and not his strained rotator cuff, a source told cleveland.com, returned to the UCLA weight room this week, which is a big step in his comeback bid.
He’s even talked to some of his receivers such as Elijah Moore about working out together offsite like they’ve done in each of the past two seasons, with Watson hosting them in the Bahamas in 2022 and Puerto Rico in 2023. Remaining close to his medical team in Los Angeles, Watson could possibly invite some of his teammates to work out with him at UCLA, where the Browns practiced in the week leading up to their game against the Rams on Dec. 3.
“I was just talking to him a couple of days ago,” Moore told cleveland.com on radio row during Super Bowl week in Las Vegas. “I think that right now, he’s in the process of just getting back right. Everyone is praying for him, making sure that goes good too. But I think everybody’s waiting. I think everybody’s itching a little bit. I didn’t really have the full opportunity to get it in with him, so it just gives us some more time.”
Moore is eager to get back at it again and build on what they started last season.
“I can’t wait,” Moore said. “As soon as he gets the green light to, whatever his process is, I think everyone will be where he’s at, or we’ll definitely all connect.”
Watson, who fractured the shoulder in the first half of the Browns’ 33-31 come-from-behind victory over the Ravens in Week 10 before pulling out the improbable win in the second half, attended the The Athlete’s First Super Bowl party in Las Vegas last week and is currently vacationing in Rome, but will soon be back at it and preparing to throw.
Watson on new OC Ken Dorsey
Watson is excited to work with new offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey, who helped coach Watson’s close friend Cam Newton to NFL MVP and a Super Bowl berth in 2015 when he was with the Panthers, and helped coach Bills quarterback Josh Allen to NFL MVP runner-up and third place, as well as the AFC Championship Game.
“I’m excited,” Watson told his Lockerverse podcast co-host and private quarterbacks coach Quincy Avery recently. “First of all, former player, and then being able to call plays in games like the AFC Championship Game (ed. note: Brian Daboll called plays in the championship game) and divisional round. I’m super excited to get up there in Cleveland and just learn from him, and I heard his press conference too. That was dope to be able to hear what he said, make me one of those type quarterbacks again. So that’s the key.”
Dorsey, let go by the Bills in November in what may have been scapegoating for their 5-5 record, stressed during his introductory press conference that his goal was to make Watson elite again.
“Watching Deshaun, he clearly has a great feel for a lot of different aspects of football, whether it’s scheme-wise for us, instincts of what he sees on the field in terms of the defense and adjusting things,” Dorsey said. “But I think that’s the exciting part about working with him is getting him back to the elite level of who he is.”
Despite suffering the strained rotator cuff in Week 3 and the fractured shoulder in Week 10, Watson went 5-1 in 2023, and helped the Browns clinch only their third playoff berth since 1999.
He undoubtedly got great reviews on Dorsey from Newton, with whom he communicates regularly, and who’s identified Watson as one of the QBs he wouldn’t mind backing up.
What the Browns loved about Dorsey
The Browns hired Dorsey, in large part, because of his experience working with multiple offensive schemes.
As quarterbacks coach under Panthers offensive coordinator Mike Shula, Dorsey was exposed to a lot of college concepts put in place for Newton, including RPOs, play action from the shotgun and plenty of off-schedule plays. It worked to perfection for Newton, who was a power runner at 6-foot-5, 245 pounds.
Dorsey, who had five offensive coordinators in his six seasons as an NFL quarterback, is grateful he had a chance to work under Daboll in Buffalo before becoming coordinator there when Daboll was hired as Giants head coach. Under Daboll, Dorsey added in the New England dropback game implemented by Watson’s former Texans head coach Bill O’Brien, and by former Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels. It features plenty of choice or option routes, and enabled Dorsey to add a whole new offensive paradigm to his repertoire.
In the same way that Kevin Stefanski benefited greatly from returning to Minnesota in 2019 and calling plays under the guidance of assistant head coach/offensive advisor Gary Kubiak — learning the nuances of the Mike Shanahan/Kubiak scheme — Dorsey added in the wildly successful offense that helped make Tom Brady the seven-time Super Bowl winner that he was in New England.
Well-versed in the spread, RPO and dropback worlds, Dorsey will be a tremendous complement to Stefanski, who’s also been tutored by some of the best in the business, including former Browns coordinator Norv Turner, in a variety of schemes. Together, there’s almost nothing they haven’t seen, and the synergy should result in some innovative plays and schemes, as well as an explosive offense. But more so than anything, Dorsey’s experience leading two dual-threat quarterbacks to MVP and runner-up in Newton and Allen helped him clinch the job, and the Browns can’t wait to see what he can pull out of Watson.
Watson can’t count on Tee Higgins coming here
Watson recently lobbied hard for the Browns to sign Bengals pending free agent receiver Tee Higgins, but it appears that the Bengals will franchise him. That’s the word from Paul Dehner of The Athletic.
Chances are, the Browns wouldn’t have pursued him anyway. Higgins’ market value is roughly four years, $74.4 million ($18.6 million a year) according to Spotrac, and the Browns probably don’t want to spend that much on another receiver.
They already have their top two pass-catchers in five-time Pro Bowler Amari Cooper with a $23.77 million cap charge in 2024, and David Njoku with an average of salary of $13.687 million. While they’ll likely add to the receiver room, it remains to be seen if they’ll break the bank for a Pro Bowl-caliber wideout.
There are other more affordable ones such as the Bills’ Gabe Davis, who has a market value of about $13.622 million a year. Davis, who spent the past four seasons with Dorsey in Buffalo, caught 45 passes for 746 yards and seven TDs in 2023, the exact kind of production the Browns can use from an additional receiver.