Deshaun Watson talks with reporters on November 2, 2023.
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00 How did the shoulder wound respond to your practice?
00:07 It was good, it was fine. I had a hard day.
00:10 I'm going to go to sleep.
00:12 What chance do you think you have of winning this?
00:15 I'm not even sure. I'm following the medical protocol.
00:19 Are you making more of a decision that this is part of an amputee injury?
00:27 Or does this mean that it's a child-related injury?
00:31 I think it's part of the process, part of the protocol.
00:37 I'm not going to make any more of a decision.
00:41 It's part of the process and I'll be sure to bring it back.
00:45 Considering the setback you had in the Indianapolis game there,
00:48 how much more cautious are you going through this process again coming back?
00:54 I'm not cautious at all. It's part of the process.
00:58 I've been in the Indianapolis league for four weeks.
01:02 I've tried to maximize my operation rate.
01:08 I've been out of the hospital for six weeks.
01:11 I've been trying to stay positive as much as possible.
01:15 I follow what the doctors say.
01:17 Do you have the ice in your head?
01:19 When you're done with the practice, what do you do?
01:22 I just go to the gym.
01:25 I just watch it.
01:27 I just watch whatever the doctor tells me to watch.
01:31 Did you feel that you had similar velocity involved as you did before the Colts game?
01:38 Or how can you check?
01:41 It's getting better each day.
01:43 I'm doing a good process.
01:46 I'm feeling very, very good.
01:48 We just grind every day and make sure we're doing everything we can to get better.
01:54 Have you tried any kind of different braces or anything?
01:57 Has there been an experiment in trying different things for support there?
02:00 No, sir.
02:02 How about padding or anything?
02:04 I know you're worried about taking another blow to the back there.
02:06 Do you have any extra padding in there when you do play?
02:08 No, sir.
02:09 Just in general, I don't want to assume, how do you feel at this point?
02:13 As far as health-wise?
02:15 Getting that shoulder back to what you consider to be 100%, how do you feel in that process?
02:21 I feel good.
02:23 The process has been going up.
02:26 We're right on track for what I feel like.
02:30 Communicating with all the doctors and all the staff.
02:33 Make sure we're doing the steps that we need to make sure that whenever that time is,
02:37 we're doing the right thing.
02:39 Did the week off last week or the week away from practice, I should say,
02:42 did that give you a big boost?
02:44 Did it give you a big boost?
02:46 Did it give you a big boost?
02:48 I guess right now, the biggest thing is they don't want to put me in a spot where I'm going to injure the shoulder.
02:56 There's a fine line that you've got to play with,
02:59 and you've just got to make sure you're doing all the steps that you need to before you get a bad time.
03:05 Would you be totally fine with that?
03:17 Of course I want to play, but like I said before,
03:20 as long as we're all on the same page as a player, as a staff, as an organization,
03:25 then I think whatever's best for the team, the best for the future of this team,
03:30 is definitely what we need to be at.
03:32 Is there a hurdle or a test that you feel like you need to clear before you return to the field,
03:36 whether it's Sunday or down the road?
03:39 Yeah, there's definitely things in the protocol that we need to clear before we can get back out there on the field.
03:45 But we're just step by step, day by day.
03:49 You can't jump in front of that.
03:51 You just got to continue to take it one step at a time.
03:54 When they have it by Sunday, though?
03:56 I'm not even sure. I said I have no conditions.
03:58 So is this a decision that could be made Friday, or could you be a game time decision similar to the Baltimore game Sunday?
04:05 I'm not sure. That's a kid question.
04:07 Hey, nobody knows your body better than you.
04:09 What percentage are you at right now?
04:12 I'm not sure. I can't be giving 100%.
04:16 When you look at those two games --
04:18 I'm at 40.
04:20 I know you guys don't necessarily look ahead and you try to keep the players out,
04:25 but when you do look at the schedule, you see that you do have those two big AFC night games against Baltimore and Pittsburgh coming up.
04:32 How does that factor into when you return and what your situation is?
04:37 I don't think it does.
04:39 Right now we're focusing on Arizona.
04:42 I get the question and things like that, but right now we're locked in on Cardinals.
04:48 It's a big week this week for us to come back home in front of our fans and try to get the W.
04:53 Whenever that time comes, it comes.
04:55 Right now it's truthfully just day to day.
04:59 How will you know that you're ready to go?
05:02 In your mind, Tom asked you to know your body, but how will you know when you're ready?
05:08 Just one of those deals where you're just nothing.
05:11 I think we're all nothing.
05:13 Myself, Kevin, Joe and the medical staff, everybody.
05:18 Everyone's seen me when I was healthy, and then they've seen me when I was at my lowest, too.
05:22 I think we're all on the same page.
05:25 How important has it been for you to guide your teammates with the uncertainty, PJ and even Dorgan,
05:33 throughout these couple weeks that you've been dealing with this?
05:35 How important has it been for you to be a mentor for them and still be involved?
05:39 It's very important.
05:41 Whenever the injury did occur, that's one of the things in the leadership and the captain meetings
05:44 that they made sure.
05:46 They all looked at me and made sure that I was making sure that I stay involved, stay engaged.
05:50 Because guys that's been in the injury protocol before tend to feel kind of away from the team.
05:57 But we did a good job of just staying in tune in every meeting, at practices, talking with PJ and DTR
06:05 and talking with the whole offense.
06:07 I've been around, having missed a beat, and everything's moving.
06:10 Deshaun, how much of this injury--
06:12 I love him.
06:13 Yeah, we do.
06:14 He kept his head up.
06:16 He played a hell of a game.
06:17 He did what we needed to do.
06:18 But I had a chance to win.
06:20 Sometimes the ball don't bounce over.
06:22 That's the life of the NFL.
06:23 That's life.
06:24 Sometimes it just don't bounce over.
06:26 You just got to get on to the next one and keep it pushing.
06:29 Deshaun, in terms of getting back to health--
06:31 You mentioned pain last week.
06:32 How would you describe the pain, the frequency of it, and the kind of pain you were feeling in the shoulder?
06:41 How has that dissipated over time?
06:45 Yeah, it's been getting better each and every day.
06:47 And, you know, it's just, again, it's all the way over.
06:50 I know my dealers are trying to do the job.
06:52 I see some stuff.
06:54 But we're not allowed to speak of the injuries in detail.
06:58 Yesterday, amongst the people that watched your practice,
07:03 there were sort of conflicting interpretations of how the ball looked coming at you.
07:09 Some people thought the velocity looked good.
07:11 Other people thought that it didn't look like you had the ability to--
07:14 Who are these people?
07:16 I don't know who you're talking about.
07:18 Well, I'm just saying that--
07:20 It's coming from fans and ads and the next question.
07:25 It's not coming from anybody in the front office or in this locker room.
07:29 It's coming from other people.
07:31 I guess I'm just asking.
07:33 Was the velocity good?
07:35 Yeah, I mean, again, it's a good day.
07:38 It's been a good week.
07:40 We're progressing each and every day.
07:43 We just got to keep pushing forward, taking it one step.
07:45 DeSean, real quick, I know there's a lot of people trying to make this decision together.
07:49 You've talked about the cohesion, you, Kevin, the medical staff.
07:52 Ultimately, how much do you feel this is in your hands when you decide,
07:56 "Hey, I think I'm ready," or is that more being dictated to you?
08:00 We all got to be on the same page.
08:02 I'm telling you guys that I was ready in the Apple suite.
08:05 That was my decision.
08:07 I wasn't ready.
08:09 I tried to jump the gun a little bit, and it didn't go our way.
08:13 At the end of the day, you got to listen to the experts and all the things that they did.
08:18 It's my first time dealing with it, so of course I know my body.
08:21 I'm keeping track of everything that I'm doing and letting them know what's going on
08:25 and what's good and what's not good.
08:28 I think we all be on the same page, and we all look right at the time.
08:32 I think the rest of the guys are kind of sticking together.
08:37 It's a tough spot not having to do franchise quarterback.
08:39 How do you think the rest of the guys have done with the four games you're going to have in place?
08:45 They did a heck of a job.
08:48 Of course, the Baltimore game, it is what it is.
08:51 That happens.
08:53 We got to give Baltimore credit for those three.
08:55 We had opportunities.
08:56 We finished two of them.
08:57 We didn't finish one.
08:59 We came close to it, to a last minute, 40 seconds.
09:03 So the guys have been sticking together.
09:05 A lot of guys banged up.
09:06 A lot of guys have been pushing forward.
09:08 Injuries happen, so everybody in this locker room understands the type of injury that I'm dealing with.
09:14 I'm making sure every time they walk past me, I make sure I take care of myself.
09:18 Whenever I'm ready, they understand that I'll be back out there.
09:21 We all lock in on that.
09:23 They know the player that I am and that I want to be back out there and help the team win.
09:29 If I can't be 100 and be good for the team, they'll have to understand that too.