NFL update: What they’re saying about Brandon Weeden
By Anthony Slater – Aslater@opubco.com - @anthonyVslater
Brandon Weeden’s first professional primetime game wasn’t in the most ideal of circumstances. In fact, there was plenty stacked against the former Oklahoma State star:
-His leading wideout (Mohamed Massoquoi) was out with a hamstring injury. His next best (Josh Cribbs) was injured early in the game.
-His other receivers couldn’t catch. Cleveland entered the game with an NFL-worst 11 drops and added six more to that abysmal mark (and there was a half-dozen other well-thrown balls that aren’t considered drops, but were catchable).
-And he was in Baltimore, facing one of the league’s best teams, trying to throw darts through the pouring rain with Ray Lewis, Ed Reed and the vaunted Ravens defense harassing him.
So despite another disappointing result (Cleveland lost 23-16 and dropped to 0-4 this season), given the surrounding circumstances, Weeden played a decent game.
Overall, he went 25/51 for 320 yards, turning what many thought would be a blowout into a fourth quarter nailbiter. His one mistake, a late pick-six, turned out to be a huge one (“That play was seven points, and we lost by seven points,” Weeden told reporters).
But teammates, coaches and other NFL personalities still came away genuinely impressed by the 28-year-old rookie, considering the situation he was in. Here’s a compiled list of quotes about Weeden’s game:
-”I like what I saw from Brandon Weeden. They, the Cleveland Browns, should feel good about his maturation and what he is doing in the offense…He’s finding and buying time for guys. I mean, he made some throws tonight that surprised me. He’s going to make mistakes, like that interception, but they’ve found their quarterback in Brandon Weeden, it’s just going to take some time.” -Marshall Faulk on NFL Network
-”Tell the Cleveland Browns fans, they’ve got something coming. They got Weeden, young Greg Little, young Trent Richardson. The nucleus of this young football team is about the same age. In a couple years, this will be a good football team, led by this young quarterback we saw tonight, Brandon Weeden. I guarantee you that.” -Michael Irvin on NFL Network
“Statistically, 25 for 52 is not good on stats. But watching the game, this guy Weeden really showed some promise. He threw one pick-six, but to keep the ball out of Ed Reed’s hand for an entire game, with 52 throws, that says a lot.” -Deion Sanders on NFL Network
-”He battled. He made some good throws and he stood in there and took some shots. He made progress as a player tonight. But when you really make progress is when you lead your team to victory.” -Browns coach Pat Shurmur to reporters
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