Brandon Weeden still the Browns starter
Cleveland Browns quarterback Brandon Weeden (3) warms up before a game against the Detroit Lions at FirstEnergy Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ron Schwane-USA TODAY Sports
It’s impossible not to feel awful for Cleveland Browns fans, as they will have to deal with Brandon Weeden starting at least another week. The injury to Brian Hoyer squashed some legitimate hope sprouted in the Brown fan base, as Hoyer was at least a decent quarterback. Weeden is far from decent, and he’s been horrible in most of the games he has played in this season. It isn’t all doom and gloom for the Browns since the defense is playing so well and Weeden has had his moments, but the key to being a legitimate starting quarterback in the NFL is consistency; that’s something Weeden doesn’t have.
So it was alarming when Browns head coach Rob Chudzinski used “Brandon played well in spurts” as a legitimate justification for keeping Weeden as the team’s starting quarterback. He could have said, “We want to give him one more week” or “We want to see if continuity with some new offensive pieces helps”. Fine. Those aren’t foolproof arguments either, but it’s a lot better than, “Brandon played well in spurts”. Chud basically admitted that Weeden has been inconsistent.
The Cleveland Plain Dealer’s Mary Kay Cabot tweeted that quote out, as well as the news that Chudzinski will continue to start Brandon Weeden over veteran Jason Campbell, who has actually quarterbacked a playoff team. Seriously, Campbell is a better QB than Weeden, because I’ve actually seen him play solid for an extended period of time. Maybe I’m being too critical of Weeden, but the guy is far too inconsistent and just makes fundamental errors. He forces throws, he throws picks to linebackers, he locks in on one receiver far too often, and he has difficulty sensing pressure. If Weeden plays poorly against the Green Bay Packers, then it’s probably time to close the book on him.
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