Deshaun Watson’s NFL career is off to a rough start. The Houston Texans quarterback has been abused behind a flimsy offensive line that wasn’t able to protect him from getting sacked seven times in the past two games. No amount of punishment is going to discourage the former Clemson Tiger, however, from showing that he has what it takes to win at the professional level.

Nothing puts that into perspective more than one play in the Texans’ 13-9 win over the Cincinnati Bengals last week. After absorbing a brutal hit from Bengals defensive tackle Geno Atkins in a sort of a “welcome to the NFL, kid” moment, Watson got up and broke free for a 49-yard touchdown run the following play.

It’s the kind of confidence Watson’s Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney never questioned he'd have in the NFL. Speaking to Sarah Barshop of ESPN,  Swinney recalled Watson’s exploits in the waning moments of last January’s national title game between the Tigers and the Alabama Crimson Tide, when the Heisman Trophy runner-up won the game with a touchdown pass with a second to go in regulation.

“He didn’t flinch,” Swinney said. “Two minutes to go, and he gathers his teammates up and we’re fixing to go out there, and he says, ‘Let’s go be legendary, boys.’

“And just as cool, calm, just like, no big deal. And that’s how he executed the drive.”

Watson didn’t lose that coolness transitioning to the NFL, which Houston head coach Bill O’Brien found out as soon as he put the signal-caller into the game Week 1.

Not much has changed in the nine months since that championship game, as Houston Texans coach Bill O’Brien saw before Watson played in Week 1.

“I asked him, ‘Are you nervous?’ He goes, ‘No, I don’t get nervous.’ And I see that,” said O'Brien.

At only 22 years old, Watson has plenty of time to convert all his confidence into positive results on the field. He’s going to need everything he can muster as he prepares for a duel with Tom Brady and the New England Patriots on Sunday.