For the Cleveland Browns it’s once again more drama than victories

On Monday, in his weekly session with reporters following the Cleveland Browns’ most recent loss the day before – the Browns have lost all but one of their six games and have not scored more than 18 points in any of them – Cleveland coach Kevin Stefanski is always asked about the status of Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson.

It’s a pointless question, but a perfectly valid one, considering Watson’s shaky work this season has necessitated constant monitoring.

That means Watson’s 1,020 passing yards rank 23rd^approx among the league’s quarterbacks. Watson’s five touchdown passes are 25^Th in the league. His completion percentage of 61.3 ranks 25th^Thand his passer rating of 76.6 ranks 28th^Th. Additionally, Watson was sacked 31 times, the most in the entire league.

Given all of this, and given that only four NFL teams have scored fewer points than the Browns’ 95, it’s not surprising that Cleveland has won just one of its six games and scored 18 or fewer points in all of them.

None of this looks good on a quarterback’s resume, especially a $230 million quarterback. For all of these reasons, it was inevitable that Stefanski would be asked about it at his weekly meeting with reporters on Monday.

When asked who the Browns’ quarterback would be in Sunday’s home game against Cincinnati, Stefanski answered without hesitation that it would be Watson “because he gives us the best chance to win.”

As their 1-5 record shows, the Browns could use some better odds to win, but chances are Browns reporters and Browns fans were hoping Stefanski would say the team’s starting quarterback on Sunday wasn’t the quarterback in would be the team’s first six games.

“We have to play good offensive football at his position and at all positions to be successful on Sunday,” said Stefanski, whose team’s lone win came on Sept. 19, a 17-13 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Stefanski’s past loyalty to Watson is puzzling. The 29-year-old passer hasn’t done anything to warrant that trust, as his stats this season show. It’s not like the Browns don’t have other options. This list starts with veteran backup Jameis Winston, who appeared in one game this year and threw one pass.

Dorian Thompson-Robinson would be another option. But Stefanski didn’t sound Monday like a coach looking for other options, which understandably didn’t go over well with the Browns’ weary fan base.

The question of who should make that call came up briefly in Stefanski’s Monday session with reporters. At one point, the coach was asked if owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam insisted that Watson remain the starter at quarterback.

Stefanski strongly rejected the speculation, saying that the Haslams have been “nothing but supportive.”

The coach further emphasized who decides what. “Every decision when it comes to football is my decision,” the two-time NFL Coach of the Year said firmly.

So Watson will apparently remain the Browns’ QB1 for now.

The dismal start of a Browns team that had hoped and expected to return to the playoffs this year after being eliminated from the tournament in the first game last year appears to be once again walking in the team’s shadow.

Meanwhile, an understandably overheated Cleveland fanbase can’t help but notice that not only is Watson’s play still well below expectations for such a fabulously compensated quarterback, but that the quarterback who stole their hearts last year is back to his Flacco thing does – this time for a different team.

After the Browns signed Joe Flacco late last year and Flacco saved the Browns’ season and got them into the playoffs with his spectacular play when the team’s fortunes were hanging in the balance, the team inexplicably declined to sign Flacco this year to return for an encore, although he wanted to come back and was willing to serve as Watson’s replacement.

Browns officials said “no thanks” to that offer. The ostensible reason for this was that Cleveland officials didn’t want Flacco fanatics calling for Flacco every time Watson was in trouble.

Flacco eventually signed with the Colts and did his Flacco thing in Indianapolis instead of Cleveland.

Meanwhile, in Cleveland, the Browns’ season is once again surrounded by orange traffic cones as Stefanski, his staff and the owners try to keep track of the Browns’ looming season ahead.