Former Dallas Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett had strong quarterback play during his tenure with the NFC East team, going 85-67 in his 10 years with the franchise.
What he’s seeing in Cleveland right now is anything but strong quarterback play out of veteran signal-caller Deshaun Watson.
Through five games, Watson has completed 60.2 percent of his passes for 852 yards and five touchdowns.
Watson’s QBR rating stands at 20.7 through five games, the worst in the NFL with no quarterback possessing enough qualifying snaps to rank below him.
It’s enough to force most head coaches to make a change at the position, but Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski said Watson would remain the starter heading into Week 6 against the Philadelphia Eagles.
That’s where Garrett comes into this picture.
Before the Sunday night contest between the Cowboys and AFC North rival Pittsburgh Steelers, Garrett did not hold back on giving his honest assessment of the situation in Cleveland (via X).
“You can’t watch the Cleveland Browns and say (Watson) gives you the best chance to win,” Garrett said, adding, “You lose credibility in the locker room when you let other factors come involved.”
"You can’t watch the Browns & say (Deshaun Watson) gives you the best chance to win. You lose credibility in the locker room…you have no chance to win." – Jason Garrett@MariaTaylor, @CSimmsQB, @devinmccourty & Garrett on the Browns QB situation on Football Night in America. pic.twitter.com/FTG76msh2t
— NBC Sports PR (@NBCSportsPR) October 6, 2024
He took it a step further, saying that Stefanski needed to summon the courage to install Winston as the quarterback for the next week.
“Give Jameis Winston a shot,” Garrett said, adding, “Maybe there’s some new energy, maybe there’s a spark in this team.”
Garrett noted that a change for next week’s game to Winston would not necessarily be a permanent change, suggesting that the team could reinstate Watson into the lineup after Winston’s attempt at running the offense.
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