Watson to Start Browns' Preseason Opener at Chicago

BEREA, Ohio — Deshaun Watson will start the Cleveland Browns' preseason opener at Chicago on Saturday, his first game action since 2024, with rookie-turned-challenger Shedeur Sanders taking over in the second half as the team's quarterback competition nears a resolution.

First-year coach Todd Monken told both quarterbacks of his plans for the first two exhibition games after Wednesday's practice. He intends to play his starter for the first half against the Bears and, if possible, give him a two-minute drill. The second quarterback will play the third quarter. The roles will be flipped against Buffalo on Aug. 22 in Cleveland.

"We're going to see both of them," Monken said, disclosing his plans without explaining his reasoning. "One's going to start this week and one's going to start next week."

The Browns will hold a joint practice with the Bills on Aug. 20 before that game. Cleveland opens the regular season against Jacksonville on Sept. 13, and Monken has said he hopes to settle on his No. 1 quarterback well before Week 1.

Saturday's snaps will be Watson's first in a game since Oct. 20, 2024, a span of 22 months. The Browns acquired the 30-year-old in 2022 and signed him to a fully guaranteed $230 million contract. He suffered a season-ending shoulder injury in 2023 and returned the next season only to rupture his Achilles tendon twice. He was also suspended 11 games by the NFL in 2022 after two dozen massage therapists accused him of sexual assault and misconduct while he played in Houston.

"I'm super excited," Watson said before practice. "All the hard work that I put in with the training staff, with my team, my personal team, to get to this stage has been tremendous."

Watson said he is not the same player he was in Houston. "I'm different, man," he said. "I'm 30 now. I had some injuries and things like that. So my game has definitely changed, but the mentality in how I play and how I approach it doesn't."

Monken said he would not set limits on Watson: "Why can't he play like that? I don't know. I haven't seen it yet. I'm not going to say he can't until I see it."

Sanders, a fifth-round pick who started seven games as a rookie in 2025, said he is improving but unfinished. "If I got 10 different areas to improve, let's improve each area every day until it gets to max threshold," he said. "That's going to take a couple years."