Deshaun Watson was met with mainly positive reactions during his return to the NFL as the Cleveland Browns travelled to take on the Houston Texans. 

Having last played a competitive football game in January of 2021 (he did play a few snaps in the preseason), Deshaun Watson is back on an NFL field. Some of his time away was somewhat voluntary after division had appeared between him and the Houston Texans’ front office and he decided to withhold his services from them during the 2021 season.

The other part of it was also self-imposed but in much darker fashion as he was suspensded from the NFL after he joined the Cleveland Browns following allegations of sexual misconduct that were placed against him. Following a lot of back and forth between the two sides over the length of the suspension, he was eventually ruled out for the Browns’ first 11 games of the season, which meant that he would return, somewhat ironically, against the team that traded him way in the summer.

And they will be hoping that he doesn’t come back to haunt them as a result. The Texans are already in a bit of a mess, coming into their game with the Browns with a 1-9-1 record and looking odds on for the #1 draft choice in the 2023 NFL Draft, but if things had gone better between them and Watson, they might be in a much better place.

Deshaun Watson was dominating on the field 

When he was with the Texans, there was no doubting just how talented he was, whilst he was there, he threw for over 15,000 yards and 108 touchdowns across his four full seasons in the NFL, with a further 19 rushing touchdowns on top of that, taking the Texans to the playoffs in back-to-back seasons in 2018 and 2019.

Indeed he was meant to be the man that was going to help usher in a new era of Texans football, as they have never really been stable or talented at quarterback ever since they came into the league in 2001. 

But with this being his first game back, on his old stomping ground, and given the circumstances surrounding his return, it was always going to be interesting, and it seems as if there are a lot of fans ready to move on from his past actions.

As he came out of the tunnel for pregame warmups, his reception was largely positive.

Video: Deshaun Watson emerges for pregame warmups:

Now a large part of it might have been as a result of the crowd, with Browns reporter Mary Kay Cabot pointing out that NRG Stadium wasn’t exactly rocking before the game:

So maybe things will be different as the game plays out and at different venues between now and the end of the season, but it’s certainly interesting to see that some are ready to move on.