Brandon Weeden talks regime changes, putting too much pressure on himself
Brandon Weeden (3) warms up on the field. Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
Former first-round pick Brandon Weeden is ready to turn a new page in his career as a backup for the Dallas Cowboys, and he’ll try to put two disastrous seasons with the Cleveland Browns behind him. The Browns unsurprisingly decided to cut ties with Weeden this offseason, and the Dallas Cowboys snapped him up as their third-string quarterback. Tony Romo is locked in as the franchise guy and the Cowboys don’t view Kyle Orton as a threat to retire, so Weeden will have plenty of time to relax and develop. He isn’t going to start in Dallas anytime soon with Romo locked in, but the 30-year-old Oklahoma State product could parlay his time with the Cowboys into a shot somewhere else upon the conclusion of his two-year deal.
Weeden recently spoke with SiriusXM NFL Radio’s Alex Marvez and Zig Fracassi on “The End Zone” about moving on from the Browns organization and joining the Cowboys organization. Pro Football Talk’s Josh Alper transcribed an interesting quote from Weeden about how he put too much pressure on himself, The regime that drafted me was out a year after I got there. You never know the plans the group coming in has. I think, as a player, as much as you try not to do too much, try not to put too much pressure on yourself to perform and show you can be the guy for the long haul, sometimes you get caught up in it. You try to do much as a player. That’s one thing if I could change about myself, I wouldn’t try to do too much every Sunday. Just let the game kinda come to you and be more patient.”
For as much as most of us make fun of Brandon Weeden for his terrible play in his two seasons with the Browns organization, it would take a cruel heart not to feel bad for him. In Alex Smith-fashion, Weeden was given an entirely new regime after just his first season, and our favorite dysfunctional owner did the same exact thing this offseason. Of course, Weeden’s fate with the team was sealed after Brian Hoyer’s first start, but one thing that stood out to me about Haslam’s incompetence is the fact that one of his reasons for firing Rob Chudzinski was reportedly for playing Weeden too much. Um, what? He appeared in eight games last season, mostly due to injuries to Jason Campbell and Hoyer.
Anyway, I’m hoping that Weeden can shed his bust label one day, but it’s more likely that he ends up being a career backup. It will be interesting to see, though, if the lack of pressure and more continuity helps him out one day, because maybe his terrible habit for holding onto the ball too long and dropping back way too far came from the mental pressure he put on himself. Maybe.