Deshaun Watson made his Cleveland Browns debut on Sunday, facing his former team on the road. The embattled star quarterback was extremely rusty early, though, struggling to move the ball whatsoever after last taking the field in the 2020 season due to tens of allegations of sexual assault and harassment levied against him. Fortunately for Cleveland, Donovan Peoples-Jones picked up Watson's slack in the first half.
The third-year wide receiver eluded multiple defenders on a highlight-reel return late in the second quarter of his team's game against Houston, going 76 yards to the house for the Browns' first punt-return touchdown since 2015.
Donovan Peoples-Jones takes it ALL THE WAY to the house on the punt return TD 💨🙌pic.twitter.com/5cIo8yy8PA
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) December 4, 2022
The last time Cleveland scored on a punt return? September 20th, 2015, on Travis Benjamin's 78-yard touchdown return, back when Peoples-Jones was a high school star at Cass Tech in Detroit.
A sixth-round pick of the Browns in 2020, Peoples-Jones entered Sunday's game with 10 punt returns for a total of 107 yards. His previous long in 2022 was a 29-yard punt return, which had doubled as the longest of his career. Peoples-Jones has also been a key member of Cleveland's passing attack, with a career-high 42 catches for 593 yards and a touchdown.
The Browns' 2022 season has been one to forget. They were 4-7 heading into Week 13, effectively eliminated from playoff contention barring a stunning December turnaround that would also require multiple teams ahead of them in the AFC standings going winless over the season's remainder.
Cleveland led Houston 7-5 at halftime, with Watson going 8-of-14 for 96 yards and an interception.
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