Deshaun Watson Back as Browns Starter Against the Texans After Shedeur Sanders' Fill-In Start

The quarterback question in Cleveland lasted three days. On Wednesday, the Cleveland Browns announced that Deshaun Watson will start Sunday against the Houston Texans, the team that traded him to Ohio in 2022, ending a short debate that Shedeur Sanders opened with one strong afternoon in New Orleans.

Head coach Todd Monken had declined to name a Week 10 starter on Monday. By Wednesday, he left little room for doubt. "I have no intention of Deshaun not being our starter," Monken said, according to Yardbarker's account of his press conference.

Why Monken waited

The decision itself was not much of a surprise. ESPN's Jeremy Fowler reported on Monday, citing a source, that the Browns planned to go back to Watson. What raised eyebrows was Monken's refusal to say so publicly the day after the game.

His explanation on Wednesday was procedural. The coaching staff had not yet met when he spoke on Monday, and he wanted that meeting first. "I just wanted to make sure I ran it by the staff. That's all it was," Monken said, per Yardbarker. He pointed to the larger sample over the one game Sanders played: "The previous eight games, Deshaun played pretty well."

Watson told reporters he never had a doubt he would start Sunday, according to ClutchPoints. Asked whether the job is his for the rest of the season, he said that call is up to the front office. "My job is to come in and win the day," Watson said.

How Watson ended up on the sideline

Watson did not lose the job on the field. He missed the Week 9 game in New Orleans after concussion symptoms that surfaced the day after he took a helmet-to-helmet hit in Pittsburgh.

According to the Browns' official site (opens in a new tab), the hit came in the first quarter of the Nov. 1 loss at Pittsburgh. He was cleared to keep playing that day and cleared again after another evaluation the following Monday. That night, Nov. 2, he began to feel concussion symptoms, and he reported them to the medical staff on Nov. 3.

Watson entered the concussion protocol on Nov. 4 and missed practice that day and the next. He returned on a limited basis on Nov. 6 and cleared the protocol on Nov. 7, but he took only individual reps on Friday, with no work in team periods. The Browns made him inactive for the game against the Saints and started Sanders.

What Sanders put on tape

Sanders made the most of the opening. In the 23-22 overtime loss to the Saints on Nov. 8, he completed 19 of 31 passes for 297 yards and two touchdowns. He hit KC Concepcion Jr. for a 64-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter, drove the Browns into position for a late field goal to force overtime, and then found Harold Fannin Jr. for a 39-yard score in the extra period. His two-point try to win the game fell incomplete.

ESPN noted that his 39 QBR was the second-best mark of his career. Monken praised the effort right after the game, per the team site. "He wasn't perfect. I wasn't perfect," Monken said. He also pointed out that Sanders had barely worked with the starters for weeks: "So, to come in there and continue to battle, I am really, really proud of him."

Sanders started the final seven games of his rookie season in 2025. Watson beat him out for the job in August, when Monken named Watson the starter for the opener.

Watson's season so far

Watson missed all of 2025 after injuring his right Achilles in October 2024, and his return this fall has been a mixed bag that leaned heavily on late-game drama. Through eight games, he has completed 163 of 249 passes for 1,806 yards with seven touchdowns and three interceptions, according to the Browns. He has run 51 times for 217 yards and a score.

ESPN credited him with an NFL-high five game-winning drives before Week 9, including wins over Tampa Bay, Carolina, Pittsburgh, Baltimore and Tennessee. The weak spots are just as real. He had been sacked 33 times, and his 40.9 QBR entering Week 9 ranked 28th among 30 qualifying quarterbacks, per ESPN.

A homecoming with stakes

Cleveland is 5-4 and has dropped two straight, a 27-6 loss in Pittsburgh followed by the overtime defeat in New Orleans. Sunday's game at Huntington Bank Field is the Browns' first at home after three straight road trips.

The opponent brings its own momentum. Houston is coming off a 44-22 win over the Chargers in which C.J. Stroud threw five touchdowns and the Texans sacked Justin Herbert eight times. That pass rush is a problem for a quarterback who has already absorbed 33 sacks.

For Watson, the setup is simple. Monken has given him the job back on the strength of eight games, while Sanders has shown what he can do in one. Another close finish against his old team would keep the conversation quiet. A rough afternoon would bring it right back.

Sources: Cleveland Browns, ESPN, Yardbarker, ClutchPoints, FOX 26 Houston, Undrafted.

Photo: Kennedy Rodriguez/Cleveland Browns (file photo from Oct. 25, 2026, at Tennessee).