CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Browns' decent into the cellar of the NFL continued its lonely march on Sunday afternoon.
However, you'll likely find the final score of the game several headlines down in the list of headlines coming out of Week 7's loss against the AFC North rival Cincinnati Bengals.
With 1:22 left before halftime, Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson suffered what appears to be a season-ending, non-contact Achilles injury. What seemed like the entire Cleveland sideline came onto the field in support of Watson while members of the medical staff tended to the QB, and what happened next caused a stir not only amongst fans on social media, but the players and coaching staff of the Browns themselves.
As Watson was carted off the field, fans could be heard booing as the cart left the playing field and went into the locker room area. Others cheered when he initially went down.
Reports from the game quickly came in claiming Browns players were "yelling" at fans who were booing once they returned to the sideline.
Players and coaches were quick to denounce the actions of those fans after the game ended, including star defensive end Myles Garrett.
"We don’t boo the guys that are injured on the field, especially with the extent where the cart comes out," Garrett said during a postgame press conference. "We should be ashamed of ourselves as Browns and as fans to boo anyone and their downfall. Could be a season-altering, career-altering injury."
Garrett further claimed Watson has been dealing with "death threats, (having) people come to his house, going after his family" during what has been a polarizing Cleveland tenure clouded by suspensions, injuries, and shaky play. Despite Watson's perceived shortcomings both on and off the field, according to Garrett, "no one deserves that."
"Man is not perfect; he doesn't need to be. None of us are expected to be perfect. Can’t judge him for what he does off the field or on the field because I can't throw stones from my glass house," Garrett added. "But we need to do better, we need to do better on the football field, and we need to do better as fans for having some empathy for a man who’s doing the best he can and did the best he can up to this point. We have to better."
Head coach Kevin Stefanski briefly commented on the reaction in his remarks to reporters.
"I don’t think it's ever OK to cheer when someone's injured," Stefanski said. "I'm sure it's not every person in that building doing that, but that's disappointing."
Jameis Winston, who began the game as the emergency third-string QB and eventually entered after backup Dorian Thompson-Robinson hurt his hand, joined the chorus of disappointment when interviewed in the locker room.
"When I first got here, I knew these were some amazing fans," Winston said. "But Deshaun was treated badly, and now he has to overcome another obstacle. So I'm going to support him, I'm going to lift him up and I'm going to be there for him."
This is not the first time Browns fans have been under the microscope following a quarterback injury.
In 2002, some in the stadium crowd could be heard cheering as Tim Couch was down on the field hurt, a reaction he called "a joke" immediately following the game against the Baltimore Ravens. Six years later, more fans cheered after Derek Anderson went down with a knee injury against the Indianapolis Colts.
While neither of those players came with the off-field baggage Watson has, the optics remained the same for many.
Garrett acknowledged the fans' frustration with the Browns now falling to 1-6, but noted that does not excuse the reaction of those who booed.
"There's levels to this," he said. "At the end of the day, it’s just a game, and you don't boo anybody being injured and you don't celebrate anyone’s downfall."