As expected, 2012 first-round quarterback Brandon Weeden opened the first practice of the year as the first-team quarterback in Cleveland.
“Brandon got the reps with the ones today,” coach Rob Chudzinski told the media after the team’s first minicamp practice of the offseason. “We are taking a look at it. It’s early in the process, just seeing what guys are taking from the meeting room out to the field. We will work through that process. Campbell will get some reps with the ones as well along the way. But this is a long, long process that we are going to have and there is a long time between now and our opener. We’ve got plenty of time and this is just the first step.”
Eventually, Weeden and Jason Campbell are expected to compete for the starting job.
“The energy, the effort, the focus was outstanding,” Chudzinski said of Weeden. “Obviously the execution, we have a lot of work to do, but it’s a good start. W e will go and look at the tape. These three days, I think it’s important to understand that this is a learning camp more so than it is an evaluation camp or an assessment camp. [T]his is our first chance to get on the field with these guys and really teach them on the field what we want and for them to understand how we want to practice and bring those things together.”
While Chudzinski mentioned against that the voluntary minicamp is being used for learning more than assessment or evaluation, it comes a week before the draft. Surely, the coaching staff and front office will at least take what they see into consideration, especially in closes cases.