Watson: 'They did a good job of trying to keep me off rhythm, keep me in the pocket'

The Houston Texans made their former field general Deshaun Watson appear pedestrian but failed to completely spoil his homecoming on Sunday as they fell to his new team, the Cleveland Browns, 27-14. 

Watson, who unceremoniously left Houston via a trade with the Browns following a tumultuous two-year period that was marked by his apparent bitterness toward the front office and a high-profile sexual misconduct case, failed to generate a touchdown against the franchise that took him first out of Clemson in 2017. 

But the beleaguered sixth-year quarterback was bailed out by his defense, which made easy work out of the maligned Texans offense.

First-year Texans head coach Lovie Smith said in a report on the team’s website that turnover ratio was one of the game’s recurring themes. 

"Whenever you talk about non-offensive touchdowns, you give up three,” Smith said. “That's going to be tough to win. So offensively got to protect the ball better. We had some opportunities down in the red zone. Weren't able to cash in." 

Kyle Allen started under center for Houston in place of Davis Mills for the second time, throwing for 201 yards, a score and two picks on 20-of-39 passing, according to the report.

In Watson’s first four years as a pro, the Texans were beneficiaries of his dual-threat wizardry and ability to extend plays. 

Seven hundred days after he took his last snap with them, they limited the signal-caller, who was fresh off an 11-game suspension in response to his legal woes, to an uncharacteristic 12-of-22 outing through the air that returned 131 yards, no touchdowns and an interception that went into the hands of rookie safety Jalen Pitre. 

"They did a good job of trying to keep me off rhythm, keep me in the pocket," Watson said, according to the Texans’ report. “Lovie did a good job.”

An Associated Press (AP) article that was ran by Houston CBS affiliate KHOU reported that NRG Stadium rang in a seemingly nonstop chorus of boos for Watson. 

The AP reported that there was a smattering of supportive fans in the stands, with one woman implying that he deserves the opportunity to redeem himself.

“We don’t really know what happened and everyone deserves a second chance,” Sherry Holden said in the report. 

The loss eliminated the 1-10-1 Texans from playoff contention. 

Next Sunday, they'll held to Arlington to face the Dallas Cowboys.