Two days ago, Deshaun Watson made a mistake — by fumbling the ball. Then he made another — by trying to play hero ball. And another — by throwing an errant interception.
Nov. 17 was a day of mistakes for Watson and the Houston Texans. The 24-year-old quarterback turned over the ball twice, finished with the third-worst starting passer rating of his career (63.7) and felt the pain of being trounced by the Baltimore Ravens 41-7.
Watson’s mistake-laden performance painted a clear picture of misery for the Texans. However, it’s about responding from a defeat that defines a football team, not the defeat itself.
Watson is here to respond. It’s who he is. It’s what he has done since setting Georgia state records at Gainesville High. When adversity strikes, he strikes back. When that adversity is his own wrongdoing, he learns from it.
“He really has a good memory bank so he can understand what happens. He’s not a repeat error, he doesn’t make the same mistakes twice. But he still is seeing things that are new. I think he does a great job in working hard to correct things,” said Texans coach Bill O’Brien on Tuesday. “That’s what good players do, and that’s what he is.”
After he became a full-time starter at Clemson, Watson never strung together games of back-to-back passer ratings of 104 or below (the equivalent of 63.7 in NFL). In his three seasons as a Texan, he is 4-1 coming off a rating of 75 or below.
“He does a really good job of that,” said O’Brien on Watson correcting mistakes. “He takes that to heart, whether it’s mechanics or reads, something in protection that he can fix in the next week. He works very hard to correct his own mistakes.”
Dwelling is not Watson’s forte. Revenge is. What better opportunity than the Indianapolis Colts on Thursday night?