By Mary Kay Cabot, The Plain Dealer
GREEN BAY, Wisc. -- Browns quarterback Brandon Weeden proved in his dress rehearsal game here at Lambeau Field that he's more ready now to take center stage once the regular season begins.
He wanted to show progress over his rocky debut in Detroit last week, and he did just that.
By the end, the Browns had won, 35-10, on a night when both the Browns and Packers had 15 or more players on the sidelines in streetclothes.
"It was definitely an upgrade for me over last week,'' said Weeden. "I just wanted to go out and get better, and I think I did that. There are things that I'll learn as we get going. You know, you watch (Packers quarterback) Aaron Rodgers. He's the best at it. He'll stretch the field, but he's smart and he puts the ball down, he knows where to go withe ball.''
Once again, the Browns' rookie quarterback faced some adversity, but this time, the mistakes weren't his own.
Hardesty, starting in place of the injured Trent Richardson, fumbled the ball away on the very first play of the game after a 4-yard gain. It wasn't the best first impression to make on Browns new owner Jimmy Haslam, who attended his first game since agreeing to purchase the team last month.
"I was mad about it,'' said Hardesty, who started in place of the injured Trent Richardson. "I wanted to redeem myself because I haven't fumbled since high school. I wanted to put the play behind me and forward onto the next play.''
Hardesty did exactly that, rushing for 26 yards on his next drive and rebounding with 41 yards on his next 11 carries after the fumble. The Browns also scored on their next three possessions after the inauspicious start.
"We bounced back,'' said Weeden. "I think that's what good teams do. When you do make a mistake, you find a way to bounce back and redeem yourself and put together a few good drives. (We did that) led in large part by Montario. Even though he did put the ball on the ground, he continued to plug it and run the ball really well.''
Hardesty's fumble marked the second straight game that the Browns' opening play ended in disaster. Last week, starting receiver Mohamed Massaquoi suffered a concussion on the opening play of the game and was lost for the night.
Massaquoi sat out last night's game as well, as well as six defensive starters and a handful of key offensive players. Also missing were wide receiver Travis Benjamin, and tight ends Ben Watson and Jordan Cameron.
Weeden wasn't blitzed as much he could've been, but was pressured into several incompletions and had two passes dropped, one by Gordon an easy hitch at the Green Bay 25 and one by Greg Little midfield. He also had a short pass over the middle knocked down by A.J. Hawk.
"For the most part, Brandon played well,'' said coach Pat Shurmur. "Today, he saw some different things. He played against a lot of pressure. He moved the team and he found a way to drive the ball. He completed a couple of third downs that were important.
"What comes to mind are a couple of third-downs are plays we're just getting a feel for. He'll do better at those the next time. He's like any of the other young one out there working. He's going to look at the film and say, 'Darn it, I need to do better at that next time.''
Weeden felt he handled the pressure better than he did last week in Detroit, where he failed to sense the rush behind him and was strip-sacked.
Said Weeden: "They brought a lot of pressure and that's what they do defensively. For me, it was good to see and react to. Our offensive line did a great job of picking things up.''
Weeden was the beneficiary of favorable first-half field position -- with three of his drives starting in Green Bay territory. He parlayed those three chances, including one that came courtesy of an Emmanuel Stephens fumble recovery, into two field goals and the touchdown.
He showed some decent chemistry with Greg Little, hitting him with a 12-yarder and a 24-yarder to the 1 to set up Hardesty's TD. Little finished the night with four catches for 45 yards, with the drop his only mistake. He was wide open at the time and just lost his concentration.
Rookie receiver Josh Gordon, who started opposite Little, had an up-and-down night, with two catches for 38 yards, a 19-yarder from Weeden and 19-yarder from McCoy. But he dropped the little hitch and ran an errant route that nearly resulted in a Weeden interception.
"He caught two balls, but dropped that little hitch that was a gimme,'' said Shurmur. "Although there was some improvement, he'd be the first to tell you he's got a lot of work to do.''
If the Packers are looking for a new backup quarterback, which some have speculated, they might've been intrigued by Colt McCoy's second very strong performance of the preseason. Their current backup quarterback, Graham Harrell, completed 12 of 24 attempts for 100 yards and two interceptions for a dismal 26.4 rating.
Playing only one drive in the third quarter, McCoy completed 4-of-6 attempts for 58 yards and a 97.6 rating. His smart 14-play drive, which ended in Brandon Jackson's one-yard TD run off left tackle, included the 19-yard pass to Gordon and a 21-yarder over the middle to tight end Dan Gronkowski. He also completed a 9-yarder to tight end Brad Smelley on 4th and 1 and a 9-yarder to Rod Windsor to convert a third down.
"We'll take a close look at (Harrell's performance),'' said Packers coach Mike McCarthy.
Weeden gave the Browns a little scare in the second quarter when he was drilled in the midsection by a blitzing cornerback and got up slowly.
"It didn't feel good, but it just knocked the breath out of me. It was one of those ones, it was a perfect shot. You've just gotta kind of gather yourself. But I got in the huddle. I could barely get the play out. Fortunately it was a short one. The offensive line was laughing at me after that.''
What did feel good was completing some passes and scoring some points, even if some came against a mix of first- and second-teamers.
"For the most part, I think I threw the ball where it needed to be thrown and threw it on time,'' he said. "My guys made plays for me, which is good. So, yeah, I think it was progress. I think I felt really comfortable. I saw things coming. I saw where they were blitzing from. I knew [the blitzes] were picked up. That's a start.''
The Browns started two rookie defensive tackles in John Hughes and Billy Winn, and Shurmur was pleased.
"They rattled around in there and did some good things,'' said Shurmur. "It was a night where we got a chance to look at a lot of the younger guys, and it was a pretty good night.''
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