Kevin Stefanski ready for a less 'unique' offseason for Browns with Deshaun Watson

PHOENIX — There will be a certain amount of normalcy surrounding the Browns when they start their voluntary offseason programs next month. Of course, normalcy is a relative term, especially for a team that never seems to lack in some kind of drama.

Coming off last offseason, though, there's no question it should trend toward the most normal side of the things. It would be hard for it not to be after everything that has swirled around the Browns from the moment they acquired quarterback Deshaun Watson last March in a trade with the Houston Texans.

It wasn't just breaking in a new quarterback. It was the uncertainty that hung over everything due to Watson's pending NFL suspension because of his off-the-field troubles involving more than two dozen women who alleged sexual assault and sexual misconduct during massage appointments.

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The initial suspension didn't come down until Aug. 1. By the time the league appealed and Watson eventually settled, it was Aug. 18, some four weeks into training camp.

"I mean, it was unique," coach Kevin Stefanski admitted Monday morning at the NFL's annual meetings at the Arizona Biltmore resort. "It was a challenge, certainly, but no, I don't want to overstate the challenge either. Teams have quarterbacks that get injured and you send the backup in at a moment's notice. So that's just the nature of the beast when it comes to planning in the NFL. You know, the uncertainty around it, I don't know if there was a perfect way to do it in terms of reps and those type of things."

Stefanski had to spend the entire offseason program and up through the initial preseason game on Aug. 12 trying to juggle two divergent quarterback plans. There was trying to get Watson immersed into the new offseason system he was coming into, but there was also the need to get backup Jacoby Brissett snaps to get him ready for what ultimately was an 11-game run as the starter.

The Browns will open their offseason program on April 17 this year. When that day arrives, there will be no juggling quarterback plans or figuring out how to split reps between players.

Instead, it will be all about Watson and trying to build upon a six-game run he had last December and January. Those game reps may be as important as anything else, having been the first time since the 2020 season with the Texans he had played in a regular-season game.

Stefanski still doesn't know exactly what the plan will be for Watson, especially once training camp gets underway. He knows that however it plays out the level of connectivity for his quarterback will be much better.

"I would say he's going to be way more comfortable," Stefanski said. "Just, it's a new offense (a year ago), it's a new verbiage, those type of things. Year two now for him, he'll be more comfortable. I think the big piece is getting comfortable with your teammates. There's no substitute for reps. There's no substitute for practice reps or game reps. So I think all those are valuable."

The Browns have tried over the last two weeks to help Watson out with the personnel they'll put around him. They signed one of his former tight ends in Houston, Jordan Akins, the first week of free agency, then traded for Elijah Moore from the New York Jets and signed veteran Marquise Goodwin to boost the receiving corps.

Watson is trying to help himself by bringing his teammates to Houston to work out prior to the start of the offseason program. Stefanski isn't allowed by league rules to know what's happening at those workouts, but he said the idea of those adds to the growth he's expecting from his quarterback.

"I think just him having the guys down to Houston to throw I think is great," Stefanski said. "That's something he's always done in his career and wants to make that a priority to have the guys down there and around him. So I think all of that adds up. But I know he, and any player going in year two, will be much more comfortable."

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That comfortability extends to the relationship between the head coach and quarterback as well. Considering the amount of capital, both draft and financial, that has been invested in Watson, his opinion figures to hold substantial sway with regards to those who he's working with, including coaches.

Watson, in speaking to the media over the final six weeks of the season, would regularly speak about the importance of his relationship with Stefanski and offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt. At the end of the season, he spoke of having a "man-to-man" conversation with Stefanski, ostensibly to stay on the same page in terms of direction of the offense.

Those conversations will resume once Watson returns to Cleveland. Stefanski said they're part of the continual growth not just of his relationship with the quarterback, but of the offseason as a whole.

"So a lot of conversation at the end of the season because, right then it, was, 'OK, what did you like?'" Stefanski said. "Now that we've gone out of it, I think the nice part now is you get a break from the action. He gets to step back, we get to step back and then we get to study what worked and what didn't. Then the quarterback will always have a huge amount of input into what we do. … Because ultimately, I don't care, they're all good plays. They're all on the sheet, but whatever the quarterback feels like he's going to make work. Those are the ones that you want to run."

Contact Chris at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com.

On Twitter: @ceasterlingABJ

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Kevin Stefanski sees less unique offseason for Browns, Deshaun Watson