The Cleveland Browns apparently wanted to get a first chance to take a close look at Deshaun Watson.
According to Peter King of MMQB, the Browns asked Watson to play in the Senior Bowl, which likely would have put him on the South team coached by Cleveland coach Hue Jackson and his staff.
The Clemson quarterback was unmoved by the request and declined to play in the game, passing up the chance to give the team holding the No. 1 overall pick a close look at him.
“I get it,” Jackson said of Watson’s decision, via Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com. “I understand where he is and I’m sure he understood what we wanted to accomplish. Again, he’s got to do what’s best for him. You only get drafted one time, and I respect that.
“Obviously we wish he were here. It would’ve been a great chance to have an opportunity to evaluate him doing the things we do in meetings and on the practice field. But that’s not going to happen, so we’ll have to find a different way of evaluating him.”
Jackson didn’t take Watson’s refusal to participate as a character flaw.
“I think he’s a high-character guy,” Jackson said. “I think he’s made of the right stuff. I don’t think there’s anything malicious about his decision. I just think he’s like a lot of guys who have made this decision to do what’s best for them.”
If the Browns fall in love with Watson, they’ll take him. He’s probably pushed himself into a really good position thanks to his performance in the College Football Playoff, and he’s very clearly on Cleveland’s radar. That would have been true whether he played in the Senior Bowl or not.
