Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson is coming off perhaps his worst showing as a pro and is facing a lawsuit that alleges sexual assault. But he told reporters he's trying to stay focused on the next game.
"Focus on football," he told reporters, via Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk. "I focus on keeping the main thing the main thing. That's when I walk in this building focusing on being the best quarterback I can be, on the game plan, and trying to be better than we were last week so we can get a W."
Watson added that he found out about the lawsuit when everyone else found out about it. "Watson said that his current mindset is to keep his attention on being able to 'do my craft' rather than anything going on off the field," Alper wrote.
The Browns were blasted by the Dallas Cowboys, 33-17, in the opener in Cleveland. The Browns visit the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday.
The civil lawsuit against Watson was filed earlier this week in Texas. His attorney denied the allegations.
"Deshaun strongly denies the allegations in the Jane Doe lawsuit filed Monday," attorney Rusty Hardin, who is representing Watson, wrote Wednesday in a statement. "We have asked him not to comment further while this matter works its way through the courts, but are comfortable he will ultimately be vindicated. We will be ready to defend this case in court at the appropriate time, but don't intend to conduct our defense in the media. We would ask that people be patient while the legal process runs its course."
Browns coach Kevin Stefanski said Watson will still start in Sunday's road game against the Jacksonville Jaguars but declined comment beyond that.
"We'll let the due process play out and follow the NFL's guidelines," said Stefanski, who added that he was unaware of the allegations against Watson before the lawsuit.
The NFL has indicated it is reviewing the situation.
"The lawsuit alleges that, while applying makeup in her bathroom, the woman then found Watson 'completely naked on her bed, lying face down on his stomach,'" wrote Daniel Oyefusi of ESPN. "Watson then requested that the woman massage his buttocks and the woman "tried to appease Watson by rubbing his back, rather than his buttocks," according to the lawsuit.
"Before the woman could answer, Watson 'partially disrobed Jane Doe and penetrated her vagina without consent, implicit or explicit,' according to the lawsuit, which also alleges that Watson sexually assaulted the woman for several minutes before she escaped and grabbed a heavy piece of decor for self-defense. Watson then 'stormed out of Jane Doe's apartment,' according to the lawsuit."
