Deshaun Watson not worried about job security, focused on better start for Browns after rough opener

BEREA, Ohio (AP) — Deshaun Watson insists he's not worried about his job certainty, changing people's minds about him or the possibility of facing a hostile Browns home crowd in two weeks.

Maybe he should be.

Coming off his first start in nearly two years, a bumpy performance in Jacksonville that did little to change the narrative surrounding the polarizing quarterback, Watson insisted Wednesday that he doesn't feel he needs to play well this week at Tampa Bay to stay the starter.

And, it should be noted, he'll be matched up against Baker Mayfield, the QB Watson replaced in Cleveland and one likely with revenge on his mind.

How poetic.

“Personally, I think all that is for the media,” said Watson, who has played just 20 games during four tumultuous seasons with the Browns. “I think the media has this expectation that I’m supposed to throw 400 yards and five touchdowns every week.

"Until that happens, I guess it’s going to be the same situation. My job is to make sure I’m operating well so we can try to get a win and keep moving forward from there.”

At the moment, things are in neutral.

Watson, who was selected as Cleveland's starter over Shedeur Sanders this summer by first-year coach Todd Monken, could be running out of time. In his first start in 693 days last week, he showed some of the expected rustiness from a long layoff while also making some of the same mistakes that plagued him in training camp.

He threw a tone-setting interception on the Browns' first drive as the Jaguars built a 24-0 halftime lead on the way to winning 34-10.

Watson padded his stats in the second half, finishing 16 of 22 for 205 yards and a touchdown. Monken's lukewarm endorsement following the game spurred speculation that a QB change was imminent, but he decided to stick with Watson and give him at least one more chance.

Time will tell if it's his last one.

Monken has been publicly supportive of Watson and one wobbly game hasn't changed that. He believes Watson will bounce back.

"I always expect our players to play well,” Monken said. “I wouldn’t put them out there if I didn’t. So, I expect him to play really well. There were moments on Sunday that he did and there were moments we did a really good job offensively. And there were moments we didn’t. And there were moments we didn’t coach well enough. And there were moments we didn’t play well enough.”

Cleveland's offense never found any rhythm. The Browns were twice penalized for delay of game and there was a three-snap sequence in the first half when they got flagged for a false start, delay, and neutral zone infraction that squashed a scoring chance.

Not all of that is Watson's fault, but when things don't run smoothly, fingers point at the quarterback — fairly or unfairly. He split first-team reps with Sanders during camp, but Watson knows he's got to clean up the self-inflicted miscues.

“We just got to get in and out of the huddle,” he said. “It was loud. We have different, multiple plays in one play call, so being able to hear everything, get off, get set up, see what the defense is doing, motion, signals, all these different things. We definitely need to work hard on that, and that’s one of the main focuses.”

Monken accepted some of the blame for his team's sloppiness and was encouraged this week by a sense of ownership in his players and staff.

“Below the line,” Monken said of last week's numerous operational issues. “We’re going to get beat. We’re going to make mistakes, but we certainly are capable of playing better individually and then collectively.”

Watson could take some pressure off Monken with a productive start in Week 2. If he struggles, Monken may have no choice but to bench him in favor of the popular Sanders, who showed promise in seven starts as a rookie last season.

The most recent time Watson played at home he was booed during a preseason game and infuriated fans afterward by calling their reaction “disrespectful.”

Monken believes Watson's second start will go much better.

“I think he had fun,” he said. "When you’re not moving the ball, is that fun? No, that’s not fun for me or him. That’d be silly to say that it was, but he hadn’t played in 22 months and he finally got the first team reps for like two weeks. There’s enough there to say, “I expect to play better. I expect to coach better. I expect our team to play better around him.

"I’ve got our players’ backs, and he happens to be one of those guys that we expect to play well.”

See AP’s full NFL coverage here

Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson (4) throws before an NFL football game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026, in Jacksonville. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson (4) scrambles in the first half of an NFL football game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026, in Jacksonville. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson (4) passes in the second half of an NFL football game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026, in Jacksonville. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson (4) passes in the second half of an NFL football game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026, in Jacksonville. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)

Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson (4) and quarterback Shedeur Sanders (2) run onto the field before an NFL football game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026, in Jacksonville. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. (AP) — American troops need to prepare for combat not only in Earth's orbit but around the moon, President Donald Trump’s top military adviser said Wednesday, looking ahead to a new frontier in warfare after the U.S. revealed for the first time that it has deployed weapons in space.

Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told service members and industry figures at the Air, Space and Cyber Conference outside Washington that the U.S. military should adapt now so it “is prepared to fight, endure and win ... from the seabed to cislunar space.”

Space Force, the newest military service, which was created by Trump in 2019, is preparing to fight in space and around the moon because “humanity is advancing deeper into space — the Space Force’s job is to help be prepared to defend U.S. interests,” Lt. Gen. Gregory Gagnon, head of the force’s Combat Forces Command, told reporters separately.

The announcement that the U.S. military is ready to fight in the area between high Earth orbit and the moon itself comes days after Air Force Secretary Troy Meink revealed at the same conference that the U.S. has fielded “on-orbit space control weapons."

The spate of announcements about space weaponry from military officials over recent days flies in the face of long-standing conventions and international understandings that have held outer space as only to be used for peaceful purposes and remain non-militarized.

While multiple nations, including the U.S., have demonstrated the ability to shoot down satellites in Earth orbit, those demonstrations have taken place from the ground against their own satellites.

However, according to Gagnon, “the intelligence community has been clear that potential adversaries have been seeking to extend warfare into space” and that the U.S. military needs to react.

“Our potential adversaries such as the PRC are actively pursuing activities in the system, in parts of space,” Gagnon said, referring to the People's Republic of China, the country's official name.

China established its own military space troops in 2024, charging them with boosting capability to manage space crises.

When asked about the U.S. announcement on deploying weapons in space, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun told reporters Tuesday that “China always upholds the peaceful use of outer space, maintains outer space security and opposes the weaponization, militarization and an arms race in outer space.”

Guo also urged the U.S. to “stop expanding its military preparations in outer space.”

It is not clear whether deploying weapons in space or possible plans to use them around the moon will run afoul of international treaties that prevent the militarization of space.

The Outer Space Treaty of 1967, which the U.S. and China have signed, says celestial objects such as the moon are to be used “exclusively for peaceful purposes,” nuclear weapons cannot be placed in space and countries are “liable for damage caused by their space objects.”

There was a renewed push two years ago to further bolster anti-militarization measures in the United Nations following U.S. reports that Russia was developing a space-based weapon.

Russia vetoed a joint U.S.-Japanese resolution that would have called on all countries not to develop or deploy nuclear arms or other weapons of mass destruction in space, as banned under the treaty. A rival Russian resolution to ban all weapons in space “for all time” also ultimately failed.

When asked about the 1967 treaty and other similar obligations, Gagnon said the U.S. Space Force “will continue to execute safe and responsible space operations in all the reaches of space.”

However, he would not say what Space Force or overall U.S. military policy was on the use of weapons like bullets or projectiles in space. He directed questions to the Pentagon, which did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.

Gagnon also says the U.S. aims to double the size of the Space Force over the next five years — to roughly 25,000 service members — and that about two-thirds of that growth would be focused on Combat Forces Command.

“We have capabilities in the military because we are preparing to defend the nation," Gagnon said. "The reason we have the capabilities is to help create deterrence.”

FILE - A solider wears a U.S. Space Force uniform during a ceremony for U.S. Air Force airmen transitioning to U.S. Space Force guardian designations at Travis Air Force Base, Calif., Feb. 12, 2021. (AP Photo/Noah Berger, File)

FILE - Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine testifies at a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing, July 21, 2026, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, file)

Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, left, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth listen during a meeting with Australia's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Richard Marles at the Pentagon, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)