CLEVELAND (AP) — Deshaun Watson lay facedown in the grass and couldn’t see one of his passes go out.

His return on Sunday was a failure in every way.

Watson looked out of sorts from the start in his first game since breaking a bone in his right shoulder in November while the Cleveland Browns won their season opener 33-17 by the Dallas Cowboys.

It wasn’t the comeback Watson and the Browns had hoped for, as the 28-year-old quarterback is looking to revive his career after starting just 12 games over the past two seasons due to an NFL suspension and shoulder surgery.

Cleveland’s new offensive game was hard to watch.

Watson spent much of the day running in front of Dallas defenders, while Cleveland’s offensive line, missing both of its starting tackles, struggled to contain its quarterback. He was sacked six times and the Cowboys got 17 hits on Watson.

“Yeah, he got hit way too many times,” coach Kevin Stefanski said. “We can’t let that happen to him. He fought like hell, and listen, the football team fought like hell until the end. But at the end of the day, we’ve got to do a better job of protecting our quarterback.”

Watson also took a few hard hits while running after the pocket collapsed. He said his surgically repaired shoulder held up fine, but Watson said he couldn’t gauge his physical condition until the adrenaline wore off.

It wasn’t too early for him to address his poor performance, which drew booing from Cleveland fans in the first half and a mass exodus in the third quarter.

“We’re not the type of people to make excuses,” Watson said. “So some people might say that that can contribute a lot, you know, my injury, guys missing time. But at the end of the day, once you’re on the field, you’ve got to perform, you’ve got to execute.

“We generally didn’t do that. And yes, it showed.”

Watson didn’t play in the preseason because the Browns opted to keep him as healthy as possible. The long absence certainly affected his timing. Watson missed some easy throws, hesitated on others and never got into a rhythm.

Cleveland’s offense, retooled by Stefanski and first-year coordinator Ken Dorsey, sputtered in the first half, with the Browns picking up just one first down and gaining just 54 yards in the first 30 minutes.

Watson completed 24 of 45 passes for 169 yards with two interceptions and one touchdown.

It was an ugly match, but Watson said the performance did not shake his confidence.

“No,” he said. “I’ll always be Deshaun Watson, no matter who says otherwise. We all have days like this when you play these types of games, and that’s just part of it. It comes with the territory.

“And certainly in my position: much is given, much is asked.”

As bad as the situation was, after a few tiring days, Watson found some perspective.

After the game, he sat quietly at his locker, listening mostly during an extended conversation with backup QB Jameis Winston. General manager Andrew Berry stopped to offer support.

Watson said his father died Friday and a former teammate died Saturday. He said the Browns told him he didn’t have to play.

“Football is definitely something you have to take very, very seriously and it’s our job, it’s our career,” Watson said. “But you know, there’s other things that are bigger than this. It’s been a long week and they gave me the opportunity to go back home, but I told them I wanted to be here with my boys.”

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