The 2013 season continues to get uglier for Brandon Weeden. After the quarterback failed to get the Browns wins early in the season, he returns from a thumb injury looking no better than before. Weeden is essentially the team's starter by default after Brian Hoyer went down with a season-ending knee injury. Much to the dismay of Browns fans and head coach Rob Chudzinski, he will remain the starter for the coming weeks.
Weeden threw one of the year's worst interceptions on Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers. It is that style of play that made Steelers safety Ryan Clark call the Browns an easy team to beat with quarterback play like that. It was embarrassing for all involved. While Chudzinski called the play a "boneheaded" move, he is confident Weeden can handle the starting role.
"This was one game," Chudzinski said, via USA Today Sports. "Brandon played well in spurts and at times made a couple of critical mistakes. ... Looking all the way back, there has been improvement and growth in his game. I go back to the Buffalo game where he made plays and was a big part of us winning. What we have to do is work with him to eliminate the critical mistakes."
It is the crucial mistakes that continue to hold Weeden back in his second year as the Browns starting quarterback. He has to make any improvements in the Norv Turner offense that he was supposed to greatly succeed in. Teammates continue to voice support for Weeden despite the struggles. Linebacker Craig Robertson called Weeden "our quarterback", stating the team does not want to toss and turn quarterbacks every week.
The Browns have Weeden and Campbell as their active quarterbacks after the injury to Hoyer. Teammates must support the quarterback because he is all they have. Chudzinski believes the attitude around the locker room and team is very positive as execution becomes the area of focus now.
"The energy is good, the focus is good," Chudzinski said. "Guys know what they need to get done. It's a matter of just executing. ... They (the Lions) were able to protect against us, and we weren't able to get the pressure we wanted."
The head coach is confident that if Weeden can begin to get smarter with the football, the team can properly execute on offense. He is hopeful the quarterback can make key improvements going forward or else Campbell will likely get his shot to run the offense.
