Cleveland Browns sticking with QB prep plan despite NFL's appeal of Deshaun Watson's 6-game suspension

BEREA, Ohio — Cleveland Browns coach Kevin Stefanski said Friday that the team is waiting to see what happens with the NFL's appeal of Deshaun Watson's six-game suspension before altering its plans at quarterback in practice.

To this point in training camp, Watson has gotten the overwhelming majority of the snaps with the first-team offense; backup Jacoby Brissett has mostly worked with the second team.

«We'll just kind of await clarity on the situation,» Stefanski said before Friday's practice. «Just continue to move ahead with what we're doing.»

Stefanski was speaking for the first time since the NFL announced on Wednesday that it was appealing the ruling of disciplinary officer Sue L. Robinson, a former federal judge, as it seeks a tougher penalty under the league's personal conduct policy.

«The NFL's appeal addresses whether, based on the findings made by Judge Robinson, the discipline should be modified to include a professional evaluation and treatment as determined by medical experts, an appropriate fine, and a longer suspension,» the league said in a statement.

On Thursday, the NFL announced that commissioner Roger Goodell had appointed former New Jersey Attorney General Peter C. Harvey to hear the appeal. Harvey works now as a partner at the Patterson Belknap firm in New York. He has also served as a federal prosecutor and is a member of the NFL's diversity advisory committee, which evaluates diversity in the league. Harvey has also served as Goodell's designee in other arbitrations. In 2017, Harvey was one of four members of an expert panel who reviewed the league's domestic violence investigation into Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott, who was suspended six games for violating the conduct policy.

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