Brandon Weeden Understands Why He Isn’t Being Lauded, Is Confident He Can Improve

Brandon Weeden Understands Why He Isn’t Being Lauded, is Confident He Can Improve

Brandon Weeden’s status is in flux. He had an inconsistent but relatively decent rookie season as the Cleveland Browns’ starting quarterback, but there’s a new regime in place now and it has no incentive to commit to Weeden, who will have to learn a new offense for the third straight year.Brandon Weeden joined The Hooligans on WKNR in Cleveland to discuss his situation in Cleveland, to reflect on his rookie season with the Browns and to talk about having to learn a new system yet again.

On not paying attention to the chatter regarding his progress and the quarterback situation in general:

“Everything I’m kind of hearing is from buddies. I don’t watch SportsCenter. I don’t watch that stuff, because I’m busy — I’ve got a lot of stuff going on — but then I don’t want other people telling me about myself. So I’ve kind of stayed out of the loop, but I know that all of the moves that have been made so far this offseason have been great for this organization. Bringing in Chud and Norv and all these other great coaches that have a ton of experience, I think’s gonna be great for this organization. And Mr. Haslem and company have done a great job.”

On how he feels he performed as a rookie:

“Average. I know I’m a better player than the way I played all year. I’m not satisfied with the way I played all year. So being the competitor that I am, I see a lot of areas of improvement. And I know I have to get better in order for this organization to win games. And my ultimate goal is for us to get to the playoffs and win a Super Bowl, so I feel like personally it starts with me — I’ve gotta get better. And I wouldn’t change anything because I thought like I prepared well. Week-in and week-out I felt like I put myself in position.”

On having to learn a new system yet again:

“I don’t think any player would say that’s the ideal way to go about it but that’s the hand we’re being dealt. I’m not discouraged about it at all. I’m actually extremely excited. I think this system has proved to score a lot of points. The numbers that Philip Rivers has put up in it the last few years is encouraging. He’s got a big-time arm and he throws the football around down the field, and they stretch it. So as a quarterback you see that, and to me that’s exciting. I want to be the guy that sits back in shotgun and slings it down the field, or play-action and throw it down the field. That’s what this offense is all about.”

On his drop speed contributing to batted balls:

“I need to speed up my drop. I need to get to the top of my drop faster and that’s one thing I’ve already stressed a lot.”

On the new regime being guarded in terms of what they’ve said about him:

“I get it because they haven’t been here for the last year. These weren’t the guys who were sitting in the draft room and drafted me. They did their scouting report on me a year ago this time, but they didn’t actually draft me. So I get it. I think if I would have played better we would have won more games, and I would have done more to help this team win games, then that might have been a different case. But I’m confident in my ability. I’m very confident in my ability to get better in Year 2. I kind of know how it all works on a weekly basis, daily basis. It’s a totally different league than playing in college football, so we’re going to be a better football team come this year. We’ve got guys with more experience. We’ve got guys that have got a year under their belt that are key guys like Trent and Josh and these other guys. It’s exciting. I’m not discouraged by it, but I know I’m excited to work with these guys and I think, come April 1, I think everybody’s gonna be chomping at the bit to get on the field and kind of see where we’re at and see the progress we’ve made.”