Deshaun Watson got the start for Cleveland and the rebuilt offensive line didn't hold up his end of it, giving up 5 sacks while allowing just 1 on Lawrence's side. Watson finished 16-of-22 for 205 yards with a touchdown and a pick, and the ground game that was supposed to be the Browns' identity never got going — Quinshon Judkins managed 33 yards on 12 carries, and Dylan Sampson left with a knee injury serious enough to have him on crutches and in a brace afterward.
Travis Hunter's two-way workload flipped almost entirely to defense, logging 29 snaps at cornerback against just 4 on offense — a reversal from his rookie usage and a sign Jacksonville wanted his hands on Cleveland's passing game rather than adding him to an offense that already had six first-half touchdown drives without him.
Jacksonville closed 2025 having won 4 of its last 5, and Sunday read like a continuation — Coen's offense clicked from the opening series, and the defense made Cleveland's rebuilt skill-position room look exactly as unsettled as the preview worried it might be. Cleveland, fresh off a 2-3 stretch to end last year, now has actual answers instead of camp questions, and most of them are bad ones.
Sampson's knee is the injury that matters most going forward — he was Cleveland's clearest complementary piece to Judkins, and losing him turns an already-struggling run game into a bigger problem than one bad afternoon. Jacksonville's own injury news was lighter: B.J. Green II was ruled out with an elbow issue, but a defense that got after Watson all day didn't miss him much.
A 24-point margin with the Jaguars playing their top targets deep into a laugher says plenty about the gap between these two rosters right now. Cleveland's next few weeks are about seeing how Watson looks with a rebuilt line getting reps together and how much of the run game survives Sampson's injury; Jacksonville's are about proving Week 1 wasn't just about facing a team still sorting itself out.