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The Cleveland Browns’ decision to name Deshaun Watson the starting quarterback for Week 1 was widely panned by fans, analysts, and pundits. ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky went as far as to suggest that Browns fans should boycott the franchise until he’s benched. “I’m being dead serious when I say this, Browns fans should not go to games,” he said. “At some point there has to be a tipping point. Orlovsky’s criticism came on the of a press conference where Watson called out fans after a preseason for booing him, not for his performance, which was miserable, but due to “personal reasons.” Watson has since apologized for his comments in the presser. “I thought I was going to get a little different response,” he said, “but I think my emotions got the best of me. My comments wasn’t intending to go at any of the fans around in the city, because there’s been a lot of great fans that have been supporting me. And I know the frustration. This organization has put a lot of investment in coming to get me back in ’22, and things haven’t been going the right direction that we thought it was. A lot of injuries, a lot of time off, and not putting the best football and my foot forward. “I understand the frustration. I understand everything that kind of goes into that. And moving forward, I just want to focus on football, making sure that I’m putting the best product out there, having the best ability, because I thrive off the energy. I thrive off the energy of the fans. I thrive off the energy of the community. I thrive off all that stuff.” He’s still got supporters If Watson really does thrive off of fans’ energy, he’ll be glad to know that not everyone has given up on him. Cleveland area sports analyst Chef Zae appeared on BIGPPLAY Cleveland and praised Watson for playing through all of the adversity after already having built a fortune. “So how are we gonna sit here and say, oh, from the outside looking in, these guys just aren’t cut to do it, when if you had $230 million coming in, no matter what you did, your a** is not getting back up and putting your life on the line when they’ve been booing you for the past 4 years?” Zae asked. “If you had $230M coming in, no matter what you did, your ass is not getting back up and putting your life on the line when they been booing you for the past four years. You’re not doing it. I don’t wanna hear it.” – @ChefZae23 credits Deshaun Watson for returning to play. pic.twitter.com/5Pbxdp6vDX — BIGPLAY Cleveland (@BIGPLAYcle) August 25, 2026 “You’re not doing it. I don’t want to hear it. You can’t convince me otherwise.” Regardless of how anyone feels about Watson, the reality of his situation is that his play since joining the Browns certainly hasn’t been up to par, and if he wants to stave off second-year quarterback Shedeur Sanders for the starting job, the 2026 season will have to show that he can recapture at least some of his Pro Bowl form from his days with the Houston Texans.