Browns quarterback Brandon Weeden isn’t the first -- and won’t be the last -- NFL player to lose his spot in the starting lineup due to injury.
But Weeden is the latest to learn a valuable lesson about getting injured.
“Don’t get hurt,” Weeden said, via Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. “I don’t know how else to put it. Injuries suck. They happen. Things happen for a reason and we’ll see how it plays out.”
How it could play out is that Weeden will lose his job to Brian Hoyer once Weeden is healthy.
“You know, at this point where we’re at, that’s out of my control,” Weeden said. “My focus is making sure this thumb continues to make the steps that allow me to get back and be 100 percent. There’s no reason to rush back and get to where I’m not completely healthy, so my main goal is getting healthy and whenever I am, than I’ll sit down with [coach Rob Chudzinski] and we’ll go from there.”
Weeden seems to think that things may have gone differently for him if receiver Josh Gordon had been available for the first two weeks of the regular season.
“Obviously, having Josh back it was nice for Brian,” Weeden said. “That’s a big weapon for him. But I thought he played real well.”
Hoyer’s chances of keeping Weeden on the bench will be enhanced by having Gordon available. Still, if the organization believed in Weeden, he’d get his job back when healthy. Whether the receivers are Josh Gordon or Jeff Gordon or Gordon Gecko, current management in Cleveland wouldn’t have drafted Trent Richardson -- and they wouldn’t have drafted Brandon Weeden.
And it’s just a matter of time before Weeden is playing somewhere else. Or not playing somewhere else.