Deshaun Watson, Daniel Jones among four quarterbacks under most pressure after Week 1
Many quarterbacks entering the 2024 season on the hot seat didn’t do much to dispel that pressure in Week 1.
Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Gardner Minshew was triumphant in a quarterback battle with fellow teammate Aidan O'Connell. But there was no Minshew mania in a 22-10 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers. Minshew’s debut left a lot to be desired as the journeyman QB inexplicably lost the football on a pump fake that resulted in a lost fumble and had a pass deflected that led to an interception.
“A lot to clean up. I feel like we beat ourselves a lot of the game. Hats off to them, they played a great game, played hard,” Minshew said. “Kept a roof on things but, I think we still have very high expectations of what we can do as an offense, that execution was not up to our standard."
Minshew finished 25-of-33 passing for 257 yards to go with one touchdown and one interception. He was sacked four times. His sub-mediocre performance made him one of four quarterbacks now under the most pressure after the opening week of the season.
Deshaun Watson
Watson was lackluster in his first game since injuring his shoulder last season. Watson had multiple errant throws and didn’t operate Cleveland’s offense efficiently.
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The Browns had just one first down in the first half.
Watson was sacked six times and threw two interceptions.
“I’m gonna take the blame and get the guys on the same page. We got to be better next week,” Watson said to reporters. “We just got to go out there and execute when we are all on the field together. We got to know the plan and try to find the weakness in the defense to find any type of positivity.”
The Browns desperately need Watson to live up to the five-year, $230 million fully guaranteed contract he signed in 2022. Watson hasn’t been the same quarterback since he left Houston.
Bryce Young
The very first pass of Young’s sophomore season was an interception. It didn’t get any better from there as the Panthers were throttled 47-10 by the New Orleans Saints.
Young went 13-of-30 passing for 161 yards to go with two interceptions and was sacked four times.
Young’s performance didn’t instill any confidence for the Panthers going forward. The Alabama product ended Week 1 with a dreadful 32.8 passer rating.
“Systematically, just doing a better job with the operation,” Young told reporters after the loss. “That starts with me.”
Daniel Jones
Jones continued his poor play in his first regular-season game since a season-ending knee injury last November. He threw two interceptions, including a pick-six, in the Giants’ 28-6 loss to the Minnesota Vikings.
“Obviously not good enough. Didn’t get in the end zone and scored six points. Didn’t create much rhythm and flow for ourselves. I got to be better,” Jones said. “Certainly, have to play better and give ourselves more chances to make plays and execute more consistently.”
New York fans booed Jones in the team’s home opener. To make matter worse, the Giants witnessed former star running back Saquon Barkley have three touchdowns from scrimmage in his Philadelphia Eagles debut, which tied an NFL mark for the most TDs by any player in a team debut in the Super Bowl era.
The Giants are 1-6 in games Jones has started since he signed a four-year, $160 million contract prior to the 2023 season. Jones has thrown two touchdowns and eight interceptions since he inked the deal.
Follow USA TODAY Sports' Tyler Dragon on X @TheTylerDragon.