AFC North Buzz: Joe Burrow, Deshaun Watson injury news, Ravens and Steelers atop the North

Without Deshaun Watson, the Cleveland Browns still have a chance in the AFC North

Just when Deshaun Watson was starting to play like Deshaun Watson, the star quarterback went down with a season-ending injury that has him feeling “hurt” emotionally.

“I’m still in disbelief.  I’m still trying to process all the information,” Watson said, as transcribed by ESPN.  “I felt like we were turning a corner to really make a run and still believe we still will with the guys in this locker room.  I just wanted to physically be a part of it. …it’s tough to try to wrap everything around my head right now.”

The Browns announced on Wednesday that Watson will undergo surgery to repair a fracture in his throwing shoulder.  The team also announced rookie quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson as their starting quarterback in Week 11.  Like Browning, the QB out of UCLA will have the team’s season on his shoulders in trying to continue that momentum the Browns built up.

While the loss of Watson is still a devastating blow, the Browns have already won games this season without their franchise quarterback and seem in better position to succeed without their quarterback than the Bengals without Burrow and that is due to the talent around Thompson-Robinson.

With notable wins over the Baltimore Ravens and San Francisco 49ers, the Browns have proved they can win in multiple ways although going forward they may need to depend more on their defense to keep them in games to give their offense a chance to pull it out.

Another reason the Browns still have a chance is that they have a backup in PJ Walker who has the NFL experience to come in and lead the offense in case things don’t work out for the rookie.