Now, truth be told, Watson has done less than every other player at practice. He participates in individual drills for about 15 or 20 minutes, then heads into the bubble for treatment, before watching the last few sessions in shorts and a T-shirt. Watson's lack of participation was reflected in the first depth chart of the preseason, released on Wednesday:
Deshaun Watson, FOURTH STRING quarterback, ladies and gentlemen! What a weird age we are living in here in Houston.#Texans unofficial depth chart, preseason Week 1 pic.twitter.com/bpLdWk1FzP
— Mark Lane (@therealmarklane) August 11, 2021
While we await the decision on what to do with Watson from a football standpoint — play him, bench him, trade him — we are waiting with even more anticipation for Watson to say something, ANYTHING, on the record. On Thursday, we didn't get a press conference with Watson or anything like that, but we did get confirmation that his vocal cords indeed work:
It's tough to read Watson's emotions in this brief clip. I mean, on the one hand, he IS smiling. On the other hand, I HAVE seen people smile before proceeding to beat the snot out of someone annoying them. I would categorize Watson's mode here as "pleasantly perturbed." As for his question — "Why are y'all always filming me every day?" — is this really a question, Deshaun?Deshaun Watson walked by the media and asked: “Why are y’all always filming me every day. It’s the same sh—“ pic.twitter.com/f1EZlZOMY8
— Mark Berman (@MarkBermanFox26) August 12, 2021
For the record, here are four different answers:
THE OBVIOUS ANSWER — "You're the team's best player, by far!"
Honestly, for a guy who claims at every possible turn that he wants to "be legendary," it seems odd that Deshaun would ask a question that ignores HIS magnitude as a player and a story.
THE COY ANSWER — "You're not the only one we are filming, Deshaun."
While it is true that Deshaun isn't the only player we are all rolling our cell phone cameras on, Deshaun gets about ten times the online footage of the next closest player. This would be the least honest, most disingenuous answer.
THE MERCENARY ANSWER — "We need them clicks, baby!"
At its core, this is the most honest answer of them all, and since you clicked on this, almost by definition you (a) agree and (b) are part of the problem (and I love you for it).
THE PRACTICAL ANSWER — "You DO have some sort of injury, so there IS a football reason."
Watson spent part of the practice with a trainer working on his leg again. He has reportedly been dealing with some sort of ankle and calf issue, so we could hide behind this as an excuse for filming him, when we all know we are all hoping for that TMZ moment.
If Watson is annoyed by the scrutiny of a few rolling cell phones two weeks into camp, then what's he going to do if this legal saga ever goes to trial?
Listen to Sean Pendergast on SportsRadio 610 from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. weekdays. Also, follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/SeanTPendergast and like him on Facebook at facebook.com/SeanTPendergast.