NFL News: Brandon Weeden named Cleveland’s starting quarterback

The official announcement from head coach Rob Chudzinski came today: Brandon Weeden will be the starting quarterback for the Cleveland Browns heading into 2013. Chudzinski said of Weeden, “He’s gone out and earned it. He’s responded very well.”

Weeden has thrown for 229 yards and three touchdowns in two preseason games. He has completed 72% of his passes and has not had an interception.

Weeden started 15 games last season as a rookie. He completed 297 of 517 passes for 3,385 yards with 14 touchdowns and 17 interceptions. He was the first Browns rookie QB to ever start on opening day.

Coach Chudzinski confirmed that Jason Campbell will be the second string quarterback and Brian Hoyer will be the third. All three quarterbacks have performed well in the preseason.

Weeden was informed of the decision on Monday.

Cleveland Browns: Sleeper Team To Watch in 2013?

The color brown is not the most attractive color in the crayon box. Although the color brown can be used beautifully, there’s a shade of brown that usually presents something that is not so pleasant in the minds of many. Since the return of the Cleveland Browns in 1999, that unpleasant brown has been reflected on the field of play.

For the last two seasons, the Browns have quietly made solid changes with quarterback Brandon Weeden at the helm and appear to be transforming, through their performance, their shade of brown into the beautiful color no one expected to be pleasant.

“I’m excited about what Brandon’s been able to do,” said Browns’ offensive coordinator Norv Turner. “The thing that we’ve spent a lot of time working on is trying to find out the things that he does best, and combine them with the things our players do best. And a lot of the things that we do on the practice field, it’s not experimental, but there’s a process you go through to get everyone on the same page.

“Hopefully when we get everyone in the games, we feature all the things that our guys do best,” he continued. “Through the preseason action that Brandon’s had, we’ve been able to do that. And we’ve had a lot of guys playing well. He’s taken advantage of the way they’ve been playing.”

It is important for a team to build according to its division, with the right talent, in order to compete for an opportunity to win. The AFC North is a physical, tough-minded division, and each team’s quarterback must be equipped to handle the grouping of squads that are blitz-happy.

After failed projects with quarterbacks in Tim Couch, Charlie Frye, Derek Anderson, Ken Dorsey, Brady Quinn and Colt McCoy, to name a few, who were not equipped to handle the AFC North, the Browns went the way of drafting a 29-year old rookie quarterback last season.

Apparently, with his poises, maturity and physical present, Weeden was the right choice to bring everything together.

“There have been some really talented quarterbacks that have been put in a position where they didn’t have very good players around them, and they’ve struggled,” said Turner. “And then there have been some guys not as talented that have played at a real high level because they were surrounded by a great supporting cast.

“But the thing Brandon has done is make good decisions,” he continued. “He’s extremely accurate with the ball and he’s made some big throws up the field already, so those are the things you look and say those are positives we can build on.”

After the 2008 preseason, the Detroit Lions were believed to be a decent team, not necessarily a playoff squad, that year because of a solid, undefeated exhibition. When quarterback Jon Kitna went down to a season-ending injury, after throwing for over 4,000 yards each of the previous two seasons, Dan Orlovsky took over and the Lions finished winless, 0-16.

The Lions’ 2008 preseason is one of the perfect examples as to why the preseason provides false hope.

With that being said, it’s highly unlikely that the Browns will finish their 2013 campaign at 0-16, due to the great potential talent on both sides of the ball.

Clearly, following two impressive outings this preseason against the St. Louis Rams (27-19) and the Lions (24-6), who defeated the Browns 26-6 in their 2008 preseason matchup, Cleveland is keeping things in perspective, but remains confident.

“The past two games, obviously, we have a lot of work to do and improvements to make but it will be good to get a chance and watch tape with our guys,” said Browns’ head coach Rob Chudzinski. “It doesn’t count in the standings in the preseason as I mentioned last night. We want to keep this in perspective. But we are working to develop winning habits and hopefully these things will help us during the course of the season.

“We are finding some guys that exemplify our identity and that’s what we want to do, establish our identity on the football field,” he continued. “Getting a chance to evaluate our players and our team, and put our team together in the best manner we can…We were efficient, ball security was good, and the guys came to play. I like the effort that I’m seeing. Some things that we needed to work on and improve are fundamentals and we will be focusing on those the next two days in practice.”

What has been the Browns’ thorn for the last two seasons were the fourth quarters. Cleveland played well enough to win the majority of their games. Nevertheless, when entering the fourth quarters, the Browns surrendered the points and left scores off the board, which were costly and caused them contests.

But they are close, nearly a touchdown away.

Since Dec. 15, 2011 when they were defeated by the Arizona Cardinals by 11 points, the Browns averaged 8.8 per loss.

A stop here, a score there, the Browns and their color would have been viewed differently.  With coordinators in Turner and Ray Horton (defensive), the Browns are looking to make their color brown more attractive each day.

“It is a good starting point,” said Horton. “All we have been trying to instill in the players is to get better today, get better today, get better today. Not tomorrow; just get better today. It is a good start. That is all it is. It’s preseason…We are trying to get better and get ready for Miami coming up.

“The bottom line is our offense is doing a fantastic job keeping us off the field,” he continued. “As long as we keep rolling like we are on offense, they will help us on defense. Most of the credit that we have been getting is really a reflection of the offense scoring, keeping us off the field, and we are fresh. That is a big part of our success is the offense’s success.”

Injuries Cloud 24-6 Win over Lions

By The Associated Press

Tim Withers (AP)
Posted Aug 16, 2013

CLEVELAND (AP) -- A meaningless exhibition win for the Browns turned troubling, and then deeply serious.

From good to bad to worse.

Rookie linebacker Barkevious Mingo sustained a bruised lung, running back Dion Lewis broke his left leg and the Browns came away battered in a 24-6 victory over the Detroit Lions on Thursday night.

Mingo, the No. 6 overall pick in April's NFL draft, will be hospitalized in the Cleveland Clinic overnight with his injury. Browns coach Rob Chudzinski did not know how Mingo got hurt and didn't provide any other details of the young linebacker's condition.

A team spokesman said Mingo was taken to the Clinic's main campus before the game ended.

Mingo left in the first half with what the team initially reported as a rib injury. However, Chudzinski reported the bruised lung following the game and said Lewis, the team's valuable backup to starter Trent Richardson, had fractured his fibula.

"They're unfortunate," quarterback Brandon Weeden said of the injuries. "It's a preseason game, guys are flying around, a lot of adrenaline and all that stuff. We just got to get those guys back as soon as we can and the guys that are right behind them have to step up."

The Browns also lost starting right guard Jason Pinkston (sprained ankle), tight end Gary Barnidge (sprained shoulder) and rookie kicker Brandon Bogotay (groin). Pinkston left FirstEnergy Stadium wearing a walking boot and on crutches.

Lewis' injury could be especially costly for the Browns, who will be without running back Montario Hardesty for at least a month following knee surgery.

The injuries cast a pall over another solid performance by Weeden and both Cleveland's offense and defense.

"It was a tough night from an injury perspective," Chudzinski said. "But we made some strides from a performance standpoint. That's the game, guys get injured and other guys get opportunities and have to step up -- and that's what good teams are able to do. And that's what we'll have to do."

Weeden threw two touchdown passes to Jordan Cameron and perhaps ended any more discussion about a quarterback competition in Cleveland. He connected on TD passes of 10 and 5 yards to Cameron in the first half as the Browns (2-0) opened a 17-0 lead.

Weeden finished 8 of 12 for 117 yards. In two weeks, he's 18 of 25 for 229 yards and three TDs.

On Tuesday, Chudzinski would not commit to a starter for Week 1, saying the competition between Weeden and backup Jason Campbell was "still close."

If it was, it's not anymore.

"Competition sells newspapers, I understand that," Weeden said. "Really all I can control is going out and playing well. Try to play mistake-free football, do the things that I can control and that's being accurate, managing this offense. And for the most part, I think I've done that through the first two games."

Richardson made his NFL exhibition debut and gained 33 yards on six carries, showing some elusiveness and power.

Matt Stafford completed 11 of 16 for 74 yards for the Lions (1-1), but was without superstar wide receiver Calvin Johnson, who sat out with a bruised knee.

Detroit rookie kicker Havard Rugland, the Norwegian YouTube sensation, made a 33-yard field goal in the third quarter. He has converted all three tries during the preseason.

Weeden led the Browns on three scoring drives in the first half before turning things in the second quarter to Campbell, who went 12 of 14 for 106 yards and one TD.

Richardson missed all four preseason games as a rookie last year, when he was coming off knee surgery. The Browns sat their young star last week as a precaution because of a shin injury, but Chudzinski gave Richardson clearance to play and he made the most of his two series.

Richardson broke two tackles, made a spin move and got loose on a 17-yard run in the first quarter.

"It was good to get him out here," Chudzinski said. "He took a couple hits and delivered a couple as well."

While Cleveland's offense hummed, Detroit's sputtered -- again.

The Lions' starters didn't cross the 50 until midway through the second quarter and settled for a 48-yard field goal by David Akers.

Detroit's first-team offense hasn't scored a TD in the preseason.

"We didn't have Calvin, but that's no excuse," Stafford said. "We can't use that as a crutch. We didn't take too many shots downfield. We didn't stay on the field long enough to get a chance to."

Without Johnson, Stafford didn't have his primary target and Lions coach Jim Schwartz kept the play calling conservative, perhaps not to reveal much to the Browns, who will host the Lions on Oct. 13.

Reggie Bush showed signs of being the breakaway threat Detroit has coveted sinceBarry Sanders retired. The Lions signed him to a four-year, $16 million deal in March. He rushed for 15 yards on eight carries and caught five passes for 44.

Detroit was called for three personal fouls in the first half, including a roughing-the-passer call on surly defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh on Cleveland's first TD drive.

Schwartz couldn't find anything to be happy with.

"There's plenty to go around, that's for sure. We played poorly in all three phases," said Schwartz, who was most displeased with the penalties. "That's another thing we've got to do a better job at. It doesn't matter what happens out there. It gets called. We pay the price for it. Last week we did a better job of controlling our emotions."

NOTES: Johnson didn't practice Tuesday and his injury is not believed to be serious. Last season, he led the league with 122 catches and set the NFL single-season receiving record with 1,964 yards. ... Browns RB Brandon Jackson had a 14-yard TD catch in the fourth. ... Lions RB Joique Bell twice shoved down a streaker, who ran onto the field in the third quarter. Undaunted, the nearly naked man ran the length of the field before he was tackled near the end zone by security. "My technique was awesome," Bell joked. "I didn't really tackle him. I had a couple of knockdowns that might get me some more points in the special team's room."

The Fan Experience Is Different For Every Fan

Written by Thomas Moore

We have to say we were a bit surprised by the push back from some fans over the announcement that the Cleveland Browns are working to try and improve the game day experience at home games.

We know (hope?) some of it was general snark, but we read and head enough that it makes us wonder, with the biggest complaint being, of course, that the Browns should "just win more games."

We're fairly certain that the people on the business side of the franchise can effectively do their jobs without interfering in the more-important football side of the operation. As fans, shouldn't that be what we want? Let team president Alec Scheiner and the marketing people handle things like game day DJs, music (we like AC/DC; we don't near to hear Thunderstruckbefore a kickoff ever again), and hot dog races. That frees up CEO Joe Banner and general manager Mike Lombardi to focus on more important things, like acquiring good players, extending Alex Mack's contract, you know, the type of things that will make the enhancements everyone is currently talking about superfluous.

Like any right-minded Cleveland fan, we have fond memories of going to Browns games in the late-1970s through the early 1990s at Municipal Stadium, even though we knew it was a dump. We also enjoy seeing highlights from games during that time period even though we still know the stadium was a dump.

But those memories are embedded in us because we were watching a winning football team (for the most part), not because the experience at the stadium was wonderful. So, on a basic level, we can understand the "just win more games" argument. But that is taking too simplistic of an approach.

The current mess the Browns find themselves in - one playoff appearance since 1999, five consecutive years of five wins or less, two winning seasons, you know the drill - is 14 years in the making. No one is going to be able to turn this thing around in one season, so why not have part of the organization focus on the things that they can actually change now?

It's hard to see how improving cell phone service and making it easier for fans to get into the stadium and actually watch the game can be a bad thing.

We also understand that times are changing and, ultimately, there's probably no harm in what the Browns are trying to do. The one complaint we do have is that they are really just copying what other NFL teams are doing rather than coming up with something different; something that the fans could truly take ownership of.

To do that, the Browns should look to European soccer for ideas.

On the list of things that former owner Randy Lerner did wrong with the Browns, the fact that he never tried to replicate the fan experience of a European soccer match during a Browns game has to be on there somewhere. Especially as Lerner witnessed it himself in person at Aston Villa.

Near the end of the Premier League season in May, Sarah Lyall of The New York Times traveled to England to try and capture some of the atmosphere that surrounds game day in the Premier League. Read this paragraph from the article and tell us it doesn't sound like a typical Browns game:

"It will be noisier than you are used to. Emotions will be higher than they are at home. The food will be awful. People will be drunk. The weather will be bad. Many of the supporters, even the ones cheering the loudest, will not appear to be having fun as we know it, and will be expressing their feelings in novel combinations of swear words. The discomfort, the din, the rudeness, the cleverness, the chanting, the verbal abuse, the unalloyed ecstasy, the abject despair, the love, the hatred — all these are part of the ritual, essential to even to the most meaningless, late-season, non-standings-affecting match."

While we can do without stadiums segregated by fans with police officers forming a protective ring around the fans of opposing teams (at least for non-division games), everything else from the singing, to the banners and the scarves would translate so well to a Browns game at the stadium.

Forget fireworks; how cool would it look if a Tifo like this - featuring the Brownie Elf - rose out of the Dawg Pound during player introductions?

Sure, most of the songs and traditions seen at European matches have been developed and nurtured over decades and if the Browns did anything it would, at first, be manufactured by a marketing department. But is that any more contrived than trying to create artificial enthusiasm by employing a DJ to play music during a game? Or run a hot dog race with actual dogs?

Plus, once they get rolling, these things would take on a life of their own with Cleveland fans and grow organically. We're fairly confident that Browns fans could come up with some pretty clever chants and/or songs about players like Ben Roethlisberger or Ray Lewis.

While we have nothing against drum lines, those types of things don't appeal to us as a fan - that's not why we follow the game.

At best, all the extra noise and hoopla is an unnecessary distraction (like when the Cavs were winning 60-plus games and going deep into the playoffs); at worst, it's irritating (like when the Cavs are losing 60-plus games a year).

The circus-like atmosphere that the NBA rolls out on a nightly basis may play differently in the NFL, which has more stoppages in play and downtime than an NBA game, so the Browns have that going for them.

So let the marketing people do their job.

Because if Banner, Lombardi and the coaching staff do theirs correctly, the game day experience will take care of itself just fine.

Browns release their first depth chart of 2013

The Browns released their first depth chart of the year today. Here it is:

OFFENSE

WR: Josh Gordon, Travis Benjamin, David Nelson, Cordell Roberson, Naaman Roosevelt, Tori Gurley

LT: Joe Thomas, Rashad Butler, Martin Wallace, Chris Faulk

LG: John Greco/Jason Pinkston, Garrett Gilkey

C: Alex Mack, Jarrod Shaw, Braxston Cave

RG: Shawn Lauvao/Jason Pinkston, Aaron Adams, Caylin Hauptmann

RT: Mitchell Schwartz, Oniel Cousins, Ryan Miller, Dominic Alford

TE: Jordan Cameron, Gary Barnidge, Kellen Davis, Dan Gronkowski, Travis Tannahill

WR: Greg Little, Davone Bess, Jordan Norwood, Josh Cooper, Mike Edwards, Dominique Croom

QB: Brandon Weeden, Jason Campbell, Brian Hoyer

RB: Trent Richardson, Montario Hardesty, Dion Lewis, Brandon Jackson, Miguel Maysonet

FB:Chris Ogbonnaya, Owen Marecic, Brad Smelley, Brock Bolen

DEFENSE

RE: Desmond Bryant, Billy Winn, Hall Davis, Armonty Bryant

NT: Phil Taylor, Ishmaa’ily Kitchen, Nicolas Jean-Baptiste

LE: Ahtyba Rubin, John Hughes/Brian Sanford, Dave Kruger

OLB: Jabaal Sheard, Barkevious Mingo, Kendrick Adams

ILB: Craig Robertson, Tank Carder/James-Michael Johnson, Justin Cole

ILB: D’Qwell Jackson, L.J. Fort, Tommy Smith

OLB: Paul Kruger, Quentin Groves, Justin Staples

RCB: Buster Skrine/Chris Owens, Akeem Auguste, Vernon Kearney

LCB: Joe Haden, Leon McFadden, Trevin Wade, Abdul Kanneh

FS: Tashaun Gipson, Jamoris Slaughter, Kent Richardson

SS: T.J. Ward, Johnson Bademosi, Josh Aubrey, Kenronte Walker

SPECIAL TEAMS

P: T.J. Conley/Spencer Lanning

K: Shayne Graham/Brandon Bogotay

H: T.J. Conley/Spencer Lanning

KR: Johnson Bademosi /Dion Lewis, Travis Benjamin/Buster Skrine, Naaman Roosevelt, Mike Edwards

PR: Travis Benjamin, Davone Bess, Jordan Norwood, Josh Cooper, Mike Edwards, Naaman Roosevelt

LS: Christian Yount, Billy Winn