University of Florida quarterback Anthony Richardson has played his final game for the team after declaring for the 2023 NFL Draft.

Richardson announced his decision on Monday, while also stating he would not play for the Gators against Oregon State in the Las Vegas Bowl.

His confirmation for the draft sees him join a strong quarterback pool, which also includes the likes of Ohio State's CJ Stroud, Kentucky's Will Levis and Alabama's Bryce Young.

In a lengthy social media post, Richardson said: "After much prayer, consideration, and speaking with my family, I have decided to forego the upcoming bowl game and my remaining years of college eligibility to enter the 2023 NFL Draft.

"As I take my next step in this journey, I will always be a Gator and strive to make Gator Nation proud."

Richardson has completed 176 of 327 passing attempts this season, resulting in 2549 yards for 17 touchdowns and nine interceptions.

Those numbers will be appealing across the NFL, where a number of franchises are expected to be in the hunt for a quarterback after what was considered to be a weak draft class for the position in 2022.

Prior to Joe Burrow's arrival in 2020, the Cincinnati Bengals were an NFL punchline. In the third season of what looks set to be a storied NFL career, he has helped them turn one of the most fearsome teams in the league into their own personal punching bag.

Ok, that may be going a little far. However, after their thrilling 27-24 win in Week 13, it is clear the Bengals are the dominant team in a rivalry with the Kansas City Chiefs, who they have now defeated in three successive games including their remarkable AFC Championship Game triumph last season.

That dream run to the Super Bowl was one that looked difficult to replicate, especially after the Bengals made an 0-2 start to the season with defeats to the Pittsburgh Steelers and Dallas Cowboys.

But the concern from that early disappointment has long since dissipated, with Burrow once authoring an increasingly impressive follow-up to his outstanding 2021 campaign.

Continually perfect placement

He reached a highpoint for the 2022 season on Sunday by once again outduelling Patrick Mahomes in an undulating thrill ride in Cincinnati, exhibiting the accuracy that defined the Bengals' unexpected 2021 ascension.

The former number one overall pick delivered an accurate, well-thrown ball on 87.1 per cent of his pass attempts, according to Stats Perform data, his superb ball placement helping him complete 25 of his 31 passes for 286 yards and two touchdowns. Burrow also opened the scoring with a rushing touchdown.

While the final stat line in terms of yardage may not be eye-popping, Burrow averaged 9.23 yards per attempt, his precision as a passer ensuring the Bengals maintained offensive efficiency that is critical against the Chiefs.

Burrow ended the game with a completion percentage of 80.6, over five per cent higher than his expected completion percentage of 75.4.

And yet, even in a game where Burrow was deadly accurate, the Bengals averaged 8.7 yards per pass play and Ja'Marr Chase had 97 yards on seven catches on his return from injury, it could be argued the Bengals did not fire on all cylinders.

Though they moved the ball well, the Bengals went three of seven in the red zone, with Tyler Boyd committing a crucial drop on a would-be touchdown on third down in the third quarter, and Burrow regularly had to make plays with his legs when pass protection that has improved this season broke down.

Normally such missed opportunities as the Bengals had inside the 20-yard line would be fatal against the Chiefs and the most feared quarterback of his generation, but since Burrow returned from the knee injury that prematurely ended his rookie year to reassume command of the offense in 2021, he and Cincinnati have become experts in finding a way to prevail against any calibre of this opposition.

On this occasion versus the Chiefs, it was success in finding balance that saw them navigate a path to a win over the team that entered Week 13 as the AFC's number one seed.

Yin and Yang

Cincinnati's passing game was complemented by a ground attack that took advantage of Kansas City's vulnerability defending the run.

Backup running back Samaje Perine averaged five yards per carry, with the efforts of the offensive line aiding him in putting up 3.29 yards before contact per rush, the sixth-most among backs with at least 10 carries in Week 13.

More critical, though, was the fourth-quarter defiance of the defense, which, despite struggling to get Mahomes off the field, came up with two crucial stops when the Bengals needed them most.

Germaine Pratt forced and recovered a fumble from Travis Kelce on a 19-yard reception to set up a go-ahead touchdown for the Bengals, on which Burrow found a wide-open Chris Evans after Boyd redeemed himself with a key third-down catch, and Joseph Ossai – who missed all of his rookie year due to injury – showcased his pass-rushing prowess and his motor to bring down Mahomes for a sack on third and short, ending the Chiefs' subsequent drive and forcing a long game-tying field goal attempt that Harrison Butker pushed wide right.

That gave Burrow the chance to kill the game in the final minutes and, after a second-down sack that appeared as if it might give the Chiefs one more chance, he extinguished any lingering Kansas City hope with one final display of his elite marksmanship.

Under pressure from Derrick Nnadi, Burrow calmly delivered a perfect ball to Tee Higgins over the middle as the Bengals ran a slant-flat concept, his throw delivered with the timing and anticipation to dart into the grasp of Higgins and defeat the excellent coverage of rookie Joshua Williams, ensuring Cincinnati picked up a first down on third-and-11 and ended the ball game.

Since Week 6, when the Bengals set off a run that has seen them win six of their past seven games, Burrow leads the NFL in completion percentage (72.3) and passing touchdowns (16), while he is third in yards per attempt (8.55), showcasing the kind of form that lifted the Bengals to the Super Bowl last season.

While he was both devastatingly accurate and efficient in Sunday's engrossing victory, it was a Bengals performance that, a week on from a hard-fought 20-16 win over the Tennessee Titans, further demonstrated they do not necessarily need Burrow to carry the entire burden of their hopes on his shoulders.

Against Kansas City, the Bengals used a balanced offensive approach to win the time of possession battle – Cincinnati limiting the Chiefs' opportunities by holding the ball for over four minutes more than their high-powered opponents – and delivered defensive stops in the crucial moments.

But such key plays may not have borne fruit had Burrow not answered the bell with an unstoppable throw to Higgins when it was all on his shoulders.

There is the talent on the Bengals' roster that Burrow doesn't have to do everything, but approaching the end of his third season as pro, the overwhelming evidence is that he can.

This latest win over the Chiefs does indeed represent the zenith of 2022 for Burrow and the Bengals to this point. The exciting thing for Cincinnati, though, is that, for as much as he impressed, it was not Burrow's best performance of the season.

The ceiling for the Cincinnati offense is higher than what the Bengals produced in Week 13, and the fact they weren't required to reach it to knock off Kansas City once more should offer substantial encouragement to the reigning AFC champions, and terrify the rest of the conference looking to usurp them.

Lamar Jackson remains in contention to feature in the Baltimore Ravens' Week 14 clash against the Pittsburgh Steelers, head coach John Harbaugh has said.

The Ravens' home-field triumph over the Denver Broncos in Week 13 moved them to 8-4 this season, putting them third in the AFC playoff picture, but there was considerable concern about Jackson's fitness.

Harbaugh was optimistic about the injury following the match, stating it would not be a season-ending problem, and expected a swift recovery.

That is still the case, with Jackson not yet ruled out of contention for the upcoming matchup against the Steelers, though he conceded that was "less likely".

"He's been through the MRIs and I would say it's kind of week to week," Harbaugh told reporters on Monday.

"It's going to be a weekly thing. As the week goes on, we'll see for this week.

"He's probably less likely for this week, but it's not impossible. After that he'll become more and more likely."

If Jackson was unavailable, the Vikings would turn to Tyler Huntley – who took to the field against the Broncos and completed 27 of 32 passes for 187 yards and one interception.

Harbaugh is confident it would not affect their play significantly if Huntley had to deputise for Jackson, stating the pair are similar players.

"Our players have a lot of confidence in him. I'm sure a team like the Steelers, Huntley will take most of the reps this week, they will be preparing for both guys," he added.

"Both guys play a similar game, we run basically the same offense with both players so it won't really change anything.

"He's a player who has a lot of dynamics to his game. He can throw, he can run, now he's experienced, he was out there last year for five-to-seven games.

"If that's the way it goes, that's the way it goes. Our guys will be excited to play and we'll be fired up."

Derwin James knows the Los Angeles Chargers have no room for error following their Week 13 defeat to the Las Vegas Raiders.

The Chargers, having claimed a dramatic win over the Arizona Cardinals in Week 12, bumped back down to earth with a 27-20 loss at Allegiant Stadium.

It leaves the Chargers 6-6 and a game adrift of the New York Jets in the final Wild Card place in the AFC playoff picture.

They now face a critical home game with the 8-4 Miami Dolphins, and safety James believes they can ill-afford any further slip-ups if they are to make the playoffs for the first time since 2018.

"We gotta keep playing. There's more games to be played. Prime time next week. We gotta come out [with a] sense of urgency," said James.

"Each game from here on out, we can't lose anymore. We gotta win out."

The Chargers' run defense was again a problem area for Los Angeles, allowing Josh Jacobs to rush for 144 yards and a second-quarter touchdown.

Los Angeles' defense is allowing 5.43 yards per rush in 2022, the most in the NFL, and head coach Brandon Staley blamed poor tackling for their struggles.

"I thought we played well early," Staley said of their efforts to stop Jacobs.

"I thought there were some missed tackles in the second half, which led to most of his yards. I thought we were in good run structures but missing tackles. He forces people to miss.

"No one is out there trying to miss. He's a good back and that's going to happen. I really felt like we defended well in the first half outside of a couple of misses. In the second half, it was a little up and down.

"Guys just have to tackle better."

The Tennessee Titans are at a crossroads in their season, according to head coach Mike Vrabel, after they were thrashed by the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 13.

Vrabel saw his team crushed 35-10 at Lincoln Financial Field as the Eagles improved to 11-1 in an outstanding season.

Former Titans wide receiver A.J. Brown, traded to the Eagles on draft day this year, had eight catches for 119 yards and two touchdowns against his former team in a superb display.

For Tennessee, the blowout loss comes on the heels of a narrow loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, dropping them to 7-5.

The Titans are almost certainly going to win a poor AFC South division, but these back-to-back defeats raise substantial questions about Tennessee's ability to contend for postseason success.

"I think we are at a crossroads," Vrabel said. "I told the team I think we are at a crossroads at kind of how we want to continue down this season.

"We can't point fingers. We have to assume that each and every one of us didn't do a good enough job because we didn't.

"We have to come to work with greater energy and greater resolve to prepare to win a football game against a division opponent.

"It sucks losing, it sucks getting beat the way we did but we have to make a decision, how much are we willing to invest and trust in what the coaches are doing, trust in what each of the players are doing. I think it’s a critical time for us."

The Titans will be favoured to get back on track next week when they host the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday.

Baker Mayfield will be released by the Carolina Panthers on Monday, bringing an end to a brief and disappointing stint with the franchise.

The first overall pick of the 2018 NFL Draft was traded away by the Cleveland Browns in July, with the Panthers giving up a conditional fifth-round draft pick.

After competing with Sam Darnold for the starting quarterback berth, Mayfield started the season as QB1 until suffering a high-ankle sprain in a Week 5 loss to the San Francisco 49ers – returning in Week 8, when he was backup for P.J. Walker.

Having made his last appearance in a Week 11 defeat to the Baltimore Ravens, the NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported Mayfield will be released by the Panthers and will hit the waiver wire on Monday.

Mayfield will depart the Panthers with a disappointing 1-6 record, throwing as many interceptions as touchdown passes (six).

A pass completion percentage of just 57.8 per cent is the second-worst across the NFL, only ahead of the New York Jets' Zach Wilson (55.6 per cent).

Bill Belichick believes it is too late in the season to rip up the playbook for the New England Patriots, even as the perennial contenders continue to struggle with their form.

A 24-10 loss to the Buffalo Bills last Thursday saw the Foxborough outfit drop to 6-6 for the season, leaving them outside the AFC's wild card slots with a handful of games to go.

Though there is plenty of time to still salvage their season, the Patriots appear to be in something of a rut, with quarterback Mac Jones involved in a sideline outburst last week.

Belichick, however, will not introduce wholesale changes, claiming they are too deep into the season to do so, and stating they merely need to execute their existing tactics.

"I think we need to do what we're doing better," he told radio station WEEI. "I don't think at this point making a lot of dramatic changes. It's too hard to do that.

"If we can just do, consistently, what we're doing, I think we'll be all right. We just haven't been able to have enough consistency. That's hurt us.

"It's not one thing. One time, it's one thing, [and] next time, it's something else. We just have to play and coach more consistently.

"I think we'd all certainly like to be doing better than what we've been doing, from a record standpoint and from an individual execution [standpoint]. But we're going to look ahead and not backward."

The Patriots are not in action for another week now, and will return to the field against the struggling Arizona Cardinals next Monday.

Kyle Shanahan believes the San Francisco 49ers will still "have a chance" with quarterback Brock Purdy after he was thrust into the starting role following a season-ending injury to Jimmy Garoppolo.

Garoppolo suffered a broken foot on the 49ers' first drive of their thrilling 33-17 win over the Miami Dolphins on Sunday, which maintained San Francisco's one-game lead atop the NFC West at 8-4.

Purdy was the final pick in the draft this year, earning him the tag 'Mr Irrelevant', but he is now the focus of San Francisco's season after an encouraging performance in relief of Garoppolo.

The former Iowa State quarterback completed 25 of his 37 passes for 210 yards, two touchdowns and an interception, the Niners outscoring the Dolphins 30-10 after Garoppolo left the game as San Francisco's top-ranked defense rattled Tua Tagovailoa and the NFL's most explosive offense.

Now the 49ers, a team who had Super Bowl aspirations with Garoppolo under center after he took over from injured 2021 third overall pick Trey Lance, must try to achieve their goals with Purdy under center.

While most may believe their hopes are now over, Shanahan is not giving up.

"What impressed me about Brock in [training] camp," Shanahan said, "is he was always willing to let it rip.

"He's decisive. He started for years [at Iowa State] at a high level. You gotta have some balls to play quarterback in this league, and he does. We think we'll have a chance with him."

Purdy will this week prepare for his first start, which will come against the man regarded as the greatest of all time, Tom Brady, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

"Pretty cool," Purdy told King when asked about going against Brady. "The GOAT. He's been playing football longer than I've been alive."

But Purdy knows he will not have to do it alone, as he enters arguably the best offensive ecosystem in the NFL with Shanahan calling the plays for an attack stacked with weapons, and he also has the assistance of a defense that forced three turnovers from Tagovailoa as the 49ers beat a team led by former offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel.

"I know the question is, can I step in and continue this ride of what our team has done?" added Purdy.

"It's not just a one-man show or anything like that. What Jimmy did for this team was amazing in terms of getting it rolling and getting us on a streak to win.

"The challenge for me is like, man, can I step up in that position and continue to feed those guys? Get them the ball. Make the right checks in the run game. Allow the defense to play great and play with them. That's the challenge for me and that's how I look at it and I'm excited for it."

Aaron Rodgers always felt confident the Green Bay Packers would rally to triumph in a "special rivalry" with the Chicago Bears and revelled in helping the franchise make NFL history.

Trailing 19-10 through three quarters, the Packers outscored the Bears 18-0 in the fourth to run out 28-19 winners and rack up an eighth straight victory in matches between the two teams.

Back in October 2021, Rodgers went viral for yelling "I own you" at Bears fans during a typically volatile 24-14 win.

Sunday was by vintage Rodgers, who has been contending with a broken thumb since October and injured his ribs against the Philadelphia Eagles last week, but he completed 18 of 31 passes for 182 yards and a touchdown en route to improving to 25-5 against the Bears.

Asked whether this continued his "ownership" of the Bears, Rodgers replied: "Yes.

"We've got a special rivalry that I've been able to be a part of and there was probably a lot of people that felt good at 19-10, so did I.

"A win against the Bears is always a little more special, there was other things involved, the all-time win total was cool, another fourth-quarter comeback.

"I told the guys in the locker room we've played good enough at times to beat anyone in the league, and at times played poor enough to lose to just about anybody."

With the win, the Packers moved outright top on the list of all-time NFL victories at 787, one clear of the Bears in second.

It is a statistic Rodgers takes great pride in.

"It means a lot, part of the legacy is you always want to leave the place you're at better than you found it," he said.

"Right now, we flipped the all-time series [versus the Bears], all-time wins, we've had a lot of success against them.

"In a few years you'll look back and feel pretty good about your contributions to the rivalry."

Joe Burrow got the better of Patrick Mahomes once again and is playing at an "MVP level" according to his Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor.

The Bengals earned a 27-24 triumph over the Kansas City Chiefs at Paul Brown Stadium and moved to 8-4 for the season.

Burrow was once again influential as he moved to a perfect 3-0 in games played against quarterback rival Mahomes, whose Chiefs sit at 9-3.

The 25-year-old completed 25 of his 31 passes, including touchdown passes to Tee Higgins in the second quarter and Chris Evans in the last, with Evans' score putting the Bengals up for good.

"He's playing at an MVP level – absolutely," Taylor said. "He gives us a lot of confidence."

Burrow's outing also included running in a four-yard score and converting on a couple of third-down passes to Ja'Marr Chase and Higgins that allowed the Bengals to run down the clock.

After the game, Burrow said: "We left some points on the field, but we still find a way to win.

"We've still got five weeks left. Let's keep this train rolling. This team knows what it takes to win these games. We've been there. It's December. It's time to separate ourselves."

Wide receiver Chase missed the previous four games with a hip injury and last year's Offensive Rookie of the Year caught seven passes for 97 yards on a brilliant return.

"I was surprised at how quickly he was looking like the same Ja'Marr, even in practice last week. He's a freak," Taylor added.

Mahomes finished the game with 16 of 27 passes completed for 223 yards and a touchdown, while running in for another score.

But the Chiefs quarterback rued some costly mistakes.

"We started off slow, we got back in the game, into the flow of things and [then] we had a turnover late and a missed kick," he said.

"In the fourth quarter, those are the things that kind of bite you at the end."

Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa downplayed the severity of an ankle injury that forced him out late in Sunday's 33-17 loss to the San Francisco 49ers.

Tagovailoa, who completed 18 of 33 passes for 295 yards and two touchdowns with three turnovers, did not partake in the Dolphins' final drive and was listed as questionable to return.

That came after being listed on the injury report during the week with an ankle injury although he was able to fully participate in team practices.

"As good as I can be coming off a game," Tagovailoa told reporters after Sunday's defeat. "We'll assess some things but as good as I can be."

Tagovailoa's two interceptions came on successive passes in the third quarter. The third-year quarterback had given up three turnovers all season coming into Week 13.

The result leaves the Dolphins with an 8-4 record, with the Buffalo Bills on top of the AFC East with a 9-3 record fueled by a three-game win streak.

The Dolphins' own five-game win streak was ended by the 49ers and Tagovailoa lamented his performance.

"It sucks," he said. "It sucks that we didn't come out and do what we wanted to do as a team.

"Obviously, it starts with me - turnovers, with third-down communication errors. In that retrospect, it's hard to win a game when you're not on your P's and Q's and you're not dialed in.

"A lot of that has to do with understanding what we're trying to accomplish and what we're trying to do. It was definitely a poor performance from my part in that aspect of the game."

The Dallas Cowboys' defense woke up in the second half to run away with a 54-19 home win against the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday, led by former Colts safety Malik Hooker.

The win improved the Cowboys' record to 9-3, good enough for third in the NFC, trailing only the Philadelphia Eagles (11-1) and the Minnesota Vikings (10-2) in the race for the one seed.

It was the Colts leading early, with Matt Ryan's 14-yard touchdown pass to Ashton Dulin giving them a 10-7 lead at quarter-time after their opening field goal was answered by a CeeDee Lamb touchdown catch for the Cowboys.

Tony Pollard put the Cowboys back in front when he forced his way into the endzone from the two-yard line, before Hooker seized full control of the game when he intercepted Ryan with one minute remaining in the first half, allowing the Cowboys to add another touchdown ahead of the break.

Michael Gallup was the recipient of that score in the final seconds of the half, and after an Alec Pierce touchdown cut the Cowboys' lead to 21-19, Gallup snagged his second of the game for some breathing room.

Things would go from bad-to-worse from there for the Colts as their next four drives resulted in turnovers.

Hooker added a fumble recovery and defensive touchdown to his big day, and the next two drives would both end in interceptions by fifth-round rookie DaRon Bland, icing the game and setting up some garbage-time stat-padding.

Dak Prescott completed 20 of his 30 passes for 170 yards, three touchdowns and one interception, while Pollard rushed 12 times for 91 yards and two scores, and Ezekiel Elliott added 17 carries for 77 yards and a touchdown of his own.

San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan called it "crushing" to lose starting quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo for the rest of the season after he broke his foot in Sunday's 33-17 win against the Miami Dolphins.

Garoppolo's injury came on the 49ers' eighth offensive play of the game, when he was sacked by both Jaelan Phillips and Jerome Baker to end their first drive. He stayed down, and ended up being carted off the field and promptly ruled out.

After the game it was revealed he had sustained broken bones in his foot, requiring season-ending surgery.

Starting the campaign as the third-string quarterback, Brock Purdy came in and threw two touchdown passes, managing the game efficiently before the 49ers' defense snagged a fumble-return touchdown to pull away.

Shanahan said it hurts to lose Garoppolo, but gave plenty of respect to Purdy for the performance.

"Just hearing it, it was pretty crushing," he told reporters. "We know what Jimmy has been through, how hard he's worked at this. He'll be out. He'll need surgery, broke a few things in there.

"Brock came in and made some big plays. We've got to clean some stuff up, obviously, but just throwing him in there in the heat of battle like that, [with] how much [all-out pressure] that team did, too, which you guys can see.

"We were having to change a lot of stuff on the fly, so putting a lot of pressure on [Purdy] in that way. I thought he did a hell of a job doing it. Protected the ball well, didn't have any turnovers and made some big plays too that I thought weren't there always."

The 49ers ruled out any possibility for Week 1 starter Trey Lance returning in time for a playoff run, meaning it will be Purdy the rest of the way, and he will make his first career start next week when Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers come to town.

"It’s gonna be pretty cool," Purdy said. "[Brady] has been playing football longer than I’ve been alive."

In fact, Brady played his final college game at Michigan four days after 22-year-old Purdy was born.

Defensive captain Fred Warner showed no signs of panic after he heard the news of Purdy's rise to the top of the depth chart, saying all his repetitions against this incredible 49ers defense in practice should have him ready.

"He's played against the best defense in the league for the past 13 weeks," he said. "He'll be fine."

The Cincinnati Bengals had strong contributions from all facets of their offense to defeat the Kansas City Chiefs 27-24 on Sunday.

In a rematch from last season's AFC Championship game – where the Bengals beat the Chiefs to advance to the Super Bowl – quarterback Joe Burrow was at his sharpest.

The 25-year-old former top overall draft pick completed 25 of his 31 passes, including touchdown passes to Tee Higgins in the second quarter and Chris Evans in the last, with Evans' score putting the Bengals up for good.

In his return from a five-game injury absence, last year's Offensive Rookie of the Year Ja'Marr Chase picked up right where he left off as Burrow's top option, catching seven passes for 97 yards, but backup running back Samaje Perine was even more influential.

Perine was used heavily in the fourth quarter as the Bengals looked to claw their way back from a deficit, with three of his six catches coming on their go-ahead touchdown drive, finishing with 49 yards through the air and another 106 on the ground from 21 carries.

It was not the best game from Chiefs quarterback and MVP favourite Patrick Mahomes, with 223 yards and one touchdown, as the Bengals committed to dropping eight defenders into coverage all game, forcing the Chiefs to accept small gains instead of their usual chunk-plays.

With the win, the Bengals are now 8-4, joining the Baltimore Ravens in a tie for the AFC North lead, while the Chiefs are three games clear atop the AFC West at 9-3.

Purdy party keeps the 49ers rolling

Brock Purdy was able to deliver a big 33-17 win for the San Francisco 49ers against the Miami Dolphins, but it came at a cost.

Purdy, the very last pick in this year's NFL Draft, was called upon when starting quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo was carted off and ruled out during their first drive of the game. Garoppolo has been diagnosed with a broken foot, with the team saying afterwards that it will end his season.

Almost a lock for the playoffs now at 8-4 with arguably the best defense in the league, the 49ers will need Purdy to get up to speed in a hurry if they still have dreams of a Super Bowl run, and he was solid against the Dolphins, completing 25 of his 37 passes for 210 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.

Deshaun Watson struggled on his return from an 11-game suspension where he was booed throughout as the Cleveland Browns won on the road against the Houston Texans 27-14 on Sunday.

Watson, who had been banned for violating the NFL's personal conduct policy for allegedly committing sexual assault, completed 12 of his 22 attempts for 131 yards with no touchdown passes and one interception.

The Browns' defense picked up Watson with two defensive touchdowns and a punt-return score to improve their record to 5-7, sitting third in the AFC North.

The three-time Pro Bowl quarterback had left the Texans for the Browns in the offseason on a five-year deal worth $230million guaranteed, one of the richest and most guaranteed contracts in NFL history.

That trade came after Watson had not played in the 2021 season as accusations emerged from more than two dozen women of sexual assault and other sexual misconduct during massage sessions, leading to the NFL-imposed 11-game ban and record $5m fine in August.

Watson's first NFL regular-season game in 700 days was met with displeasure, with his former fans booing and jeering him throughout.

"They're supposed to boo," Watson told reporters after the game. "I'm a Cleveland Brown now, and we're on the road, so they're supposed to boo."

Watson again refused to answer any non-football questions after the game, having been asked if he had any remorse for his actions that led to his suspension.

"That's something that, legal and clinical, we've answered before," Watson said. "They don't want me to address anything like that.

"Of course, it was a tough situation. The suspension was tough. But at the same time, my main focus is just trying to be 1-0 as a football player today.

"I was just excited to be back on the field today. I did everything that I was asked and was required to do. I did all that. I was able to play and be on the field today."

Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski conceded Watson was rusty after not played for a season-and-a-half.

"Obviously you're missing a bunch of time so you've got to get back in it," Stefanski said. "You've got to get this first one out of the way. But I know what the kid is capable of."

The Browns face the 8-4 Cincinnati Bengals next Sunday.

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