Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson had a pretty good reason for not participating in last week’s Senior Bowl – he was not fully healthy. That’s what the national championship winning quarterback told Mike & Mike on ESPN Radio on Friday.
Watson, who is in Houston, Texas as part of Super Bowl LI week, said he spoke with Cleveland Browns head coach Hue Jackson and Senior Bowl executive director Phil Savage for about 20 or 30 minutes the day after the national championship game. He then went back home and thought things over.
If you recall, Watson took some pretty big hits from Alabama in the National Championship Game. In the first quarter he took what looked like a blow to the head on a late hit where he sat on the ground for about 30 seconds to get his thoughts together. He also took a big hit in the third quarter when he looked like a human helicopter, and then in the fourth quarter when he hurdled an Alabama player near the goal line to set up Wayne Gallman’s one-yard touchdown run.
“I tried to get away from football for a couple of days and hung out with some friends and had a great conversation with my coaching staff at Clemson, my agent, my trainer and my family,” Watson said. “I was not fully healthy. I did not want to go down and participate and not be fully healthy and not give off the right vibes and not be able to perform like I really wanted to.”
Watson also had a big move coming up, and a week in Mobile, Ala., would have put a strain on that situation as well.
“It was a long season and I also moved from Georgia to California so there was a lot going on at the same time,” he said. “So it was best for me not to participate and go ahead and get started on my draft process.”
Though Watson did not get into what he meant by not being fully healthy, it seems he will be fine before the NFL Scouting Combine which will be Feb. 28-April 6 in Indianapolis, Ind. He said he will throw at the combine, which is something a lot of the top-rated quarterbacks choose not to do.
Only 14 of the last 26 quarterbacks to throw in the combine were selected in the first round of the NFL Draft. But Watson feels it is important that he throws at the scouting combine.
“I want to be perfect on every throw, which is going to be hard because I’ll be throwing to receivers that I don’t know,” he said.
–Above photo: Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson (4) dives for the end zone while hurdling Alabama defensive back Ronnie Harrison (15) during the fourth quarter in the 2017 College Football Playoff National Championship Game at Raymond James Stadium. (photo by Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports)
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