Quarterback Brandon Weeden has recovered from the thumb injury that knocked him out of the lineup in Week Two, but he isn’t returning to the starting job he held before his injury.
The Browns are rolling with Brian Hoyer after two straight wins have leveled their record at 2-2 heading into Thursday night’s date with the Bills. Weeden, who called himself the “ultimate team guy” and said he’s happy about the team’s success with Hoyer at quarterback, isn’t sure whether he’ll be Hoyer’s backup ahead of Jason Campbell this week but said he hasn’t lost confidence in himself. He also said he thinks that he’ll get another chance to start as the Browns say they’re going week-to-week with their quarterback choice.
“That’s my mindset,” Weeden said, via Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. “I can’t approach it any other wayW. If I did, I’d be doing a disservice to myself and doing a disservice to this offense. I’m going to work just as hard as I did in the off-season to win the job. I’m going to keep continuing to work just as hard now as I did week one and week two and go from there.”
We’re not quite as confident as Weeden. The 2012 first-round pick clearly isn’t the new regime’s choice to lead the offense into the future and they’d probably be starting him now if they thought they could turn a strong performance or two into a deal that nets them more draft picks in exchange for Weeden. Hoyer hasn’t been spectacular, but he’s been better than Weeden was in the first two weeks and there’s a higher curiosity level about what he can do than there is about Weeden among the Browns brass.
Should Hoyer continue to put up respectable performances, it’s a good bet that Weeden will continue to be watching from the sideline.