Why Deshaun Watson left the field on fourth down in the Browns' ugly loss to the Commanders

LANDOVER, Md. – Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson raised some eyebrows and caused an uproar on social media in the third quarter of Sunday's 34-13 loss to the Commanders when he left the field and then frustrated to the dismay of Kevin Stefanski ripped off his chin strap, took off his helmet and shook his head.

The internet was quick to judge, guessing that Watson was off his team since the Browns were down 24-3 and scoring first at 2-0.

But as it turned out, Watson left dejected in the fourth and scored with 12:15 left in the third because the Browns had too many men in the huddle. Watson could be seen counting heads, and so could Amari Cooper, before Watson walked to the sideline and told a frustrated Stefanski why he was there.

The Browns took the 5-yard delay of game penalty and Dustin Hopkins kicked a 31-yard field goal to cut the deficit to 24-6.

“We had the wrong number of people in the huddle and at that point all we wanted to do was shoot the field goal,” Stefanski said after the game.

“Too many men in one group,” Watson said. “That was it.”

Cooper agreed.

“It was a miscommunication,” he said.

But the extra body was just one of many mistakes on that ill-fated drive after Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah forced Terry McLaurin to fumble on the first play of the second half and Martin Emerson Jr. recovered to start the Browns at the Commanders 30.

Two completions to Cooper gave the Browns a first down and a goal on 2nd with a great chance to make the game a game.

Instead, they self-destructed. D'Onta Foreman scored a TD on first down, but it was recovered by a false start against rookie Zak Zinter.

“I just cringed a little bit,” Zinter said.

Watson (15 of 28, 125 yards, 1 TD, 0 INTs, one strip sack, 77.2 rating) was sacked on the next play for a 1-yard loss. It was his fourth of seven sacks on the afternoon.

On second-and-goal from the 8, Jerry Jeudy dropped a pass in the end zone that hit him in the hands.

“Honestly, I didn’t even see the Jerry (drop),” Watson said. “I honestly thought I had done it wrong. I didn't know he dropped it, so I honestly thought it was my fault. But the pieces are there. We just have to finish them off. That’s the biggest thing.”

It's reminiscent of last week's error-filled 20-16 loss to the Raiders, when Cooper dropped a ball deep over the middle and then made an 82-yard catch-and-run for a touchdown on a call against the backup. Center Nick Harris nullified .

“We had penalties and some miscommunications that were entirely my fault,” Stefanski said. “I take responsibility for all of this. To me it looks like losing football. I’ll get it repaired.”

Stefanski, who replaced Watson with Jameis Winston with 2:28 to play, said afterwards: “We are not going to change quarterbacks. We have to play better. I need to train better and that’s really it.”

Watson said the players who only had player meetings “need to sit down with the coaching staff” and figure out what they're great at.

He said they needed to figure out how to use their weapons better.

“It's just a football, but we have a lot of great guys that can play and are trying to figure it out,” Watson said. “Njoku came back this week so we're trying to reintroduce him to the offense, introduce things like that and at the same time figure out what type of offense and identity we want to play. Time flies.”