The Cleveland Browns have a lot riding on Deshaun Watson this year, as he has been a massive disappointment since the team acquired him ahead of the 2022 NFL season from the Houston Texans and gave him a fully guaranteed $230 million contract. He has played in six games over the last two years, as he was suspended for 11 games in 2022 due to violations stemming from allegations of sexual misconduct, and he suffered multiple injuries during the 2023 season. New Browns offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey put it simply when asked what the goal is for Deshaun Watson this training camp.

“He needs reps, needs live action,” Ken Dorsey said, via ESPN.

That is obvious. Watson has not played a full season since 2020 with the Houston Texans. It has been a long time since Watson has taken hits and played consistently week-to-week in the NFL, so there is a lot of rust to knock off. During practices, the Browns are surrounding Watson with disturbances. For example, people will be near him or tab him with pads as he drops back to simulate game conditions, according to ESPN. Kevin Stefanski spoke on Watson’s situation heading into 2024.

“Just stay healthy,” Kevin Stefanski said, via ESPN. “I’m confident in Deshaun as a winner. That’s what he’s proven to do his entire career. He even did it for us last season, even though he wasn’t 100 percent.”

The first priority for Watson is staying healthy and getting acclimated to playing in games consistently again. The Browns need him to get somewhere at least in the ball park of the level he played at with the Texans.

What Ken Dorsey will try to do for Browns, Deshaun Watson

Although Ken Dorsey is not calling plays, head coach Kevin Stefanski will do that, the goal is for him to help the Browns offense stay out of third-down and long distance situations where they will obviously pass the ball. Doing so will set up Watson for success. Browns GM Andrew Berry spoke on that goal.

“It’s really first-down efficiency and staying out of third-down situations,” Andrew Berry said, via ESPN. “Because the hardest thing for an offense to do — and specifically for a quarterback to do — is operate in third-and-medium-to-long when you’re in obvious passing situations; you have to just drop back and win. Now, that’s why the guys make money, because they have to be able to convert some of those. But even the best offenses, they convert maybe just right around half.”

This is a big year for Watson, as if he does not step up for the Browns, he gets closer to the point in which the franchise might think about taking on the dead cap hit to release him.