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Deshaun Watson has not been seen on the field since November. He suffered a shoulder injury during practice for the team's first meeting with the Baltimore Ravens, then reaggravated it in the rematch.
This forced the former Houston Texan to undergo season-ending shoulder surgery, and he also generated some minor controversy by sitting in the stands, rather than on the sidelines, in the game against the Los Angeles Rams. So it has been up to his girlfriend, musician Jilly Anais, to uphold his reputation.
On Monday, she returned to Instagram to post a series of images of herself wearing a denim top and pants and driving the quarterback's Rolls-Royce Cullinan luxury CUV, which can retail for around $350,000:
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Deshaun Watson expounds on Browns' return to playoffs, sends message
The Cleveland Browns are back in the playoffs - even without Deshaun Watson.
After the three-time Pro Bowler was lost to his shoulder injury, rookie Dorian Thompson-Robinson filled in while Kevin Stefanski and Andrew Berry pursued a top free agent - and they found one in former divisional rival Joe Flacco. The Super Bowl XLVII MVP went on a 4-2 run to give the team an 11-6 record - good enough for second in the AFC North and the fifth seed in the playoffs.
Speaking recently on Quincy Avery's QB Unplugged podcast, Watson said he was happy to see the Browns succeed:
“They win and go to the Bowl, I’m going to the Bowl. They get a ring, I’m getting a ring.”
He also sent this stern message ahead of their visit to his former team, the Houston Texans, who clinched their first division title since trading him away:
"You got to lock in, you know what I’m saying? Because those guys gonna be ready to go. Especially when you go on the road in any playoff game... If you are on the road for a playoff game, you have to lock in because it’s a hostile environment."
Falcons owner Arthur Blank expounds on failed bid to poach Deshaun Watson
Meanwhile, there was once a time when another Southern team could have had Watson's services: the Atlanta Falcons.
In 2022, when he wanted out of Houston amid a dispute with new management and his growing sexual misconduct scandal, owner Arthur Blank tried to pursue him hard but stopped short of a trade. Expounding on the failed bid in a Monday presser, he said:
“The decision at the time was collaborative . … We pursued it to a point, and at some point it didn’t make sense for us.
“It was not a long discussion we had about Deshaun. We went through a little bit of the process with him.”
The Falcons, who had traded longtime franchise face Matt Ryan to the Indianapolis Colts, ended up drafting Desmond Ridder. In his first season as the primary starter, they had their third consecutive 7-10 campaign and subsequently fired head coach Arthur Smith.
