Deshaun Watson looked out of sorts from the start in his first game since breaking his shoulder in November. Cleveland was defeated 33-17 by the Dallas Cowboys in the season opener, and the quarterback was booed by Browns fans.

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 offense was tough to watch. Watson, who signed a $230 million contract with the Browns in 2022, spent much of the day running in front of Dallas defenders while his offensive line, missing both of its starting tackles, struggled to keep their quarterback upright. 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 could 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 didn’t do that generally. And yeah, 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. The Browns picked up just one first down and gained just 54 yards in the first 30 minutes. Watson completed 24 of 45 for 169 yards with two interceptions and a 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’s part of it. And especially in my position, a lot is given, a lot is asked.”

After the game, Watson sat quietly at his locker. His father died on Friday, and Watson said a former teammate died on 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.”