New Browns coach won't confirm Weeden will remain starter
BY TOM WITHERS Associated Press
Thursday, January 24, 2013
1/24/13 at 4:53 AM
BEREA, Ohio - Norv Turner will call plays for the Browns next season. It's not yet certain who will run them.
First-year Browns coach Rob Chudzinski said Wednesday that "it's premature" to name Brandon Weeden as Cleveland's starting quarterback in 2013.
At a press conference to introduce Turner, San Diego's former coach, as his offensive coordinator, Chudzinski would not commit to Weeden, the Oklahoma City native who had an uneven rookie season after he was drafted in the first round last year out of Oklahoma State. Chudzinski is keeping his options open, which doesn't mean he's opposed to Weeden keeping his job.
"That's premature to say any of that," he said. "Until we all get together, we get the staff set, we get a chance to sit down and talk through personnel and everybody's on the same page with those things. You don't know watching tape necessarily how guys are."
Weeden won't be handed anything by Cleveland's new regime and Chudzinski, who was hired Jan. 11 as Cleveland's sixth coach since 1999, isn't rushing into such an important decision. The Browns have opened the season with a new starting quarterback in each of the past five years.
Weeden, who was part of a talented rookie class that included Andrew Luck, Robert Griffin III and Russell Wilson, was equally promising and perplexing in 2012.
The 29-year-old passed for 3,385 yards but completed only 57 percent of his throws. He had 14 touchdowns, 17 interceptions, and his 72.6 rating was 29th among the league's 32 starters.
Turner will also coach Cleveland's quarterbacks and is looking forward to working with Weeden, who made 15 starts before missing Cleveland's finale at Pittsburgh with a sprained shoulder. Like Chudzinski, Turner would not offer a strong opinion on Weeden, but said he's got some intangibles to build upon.
"I look at things where I know he has to improve and needs to get better to do the things we want him to do, but I think he has a lot of the skill set that we're looking for," Turner said.
"There's a lot of guys that I've been with that I think have had their best seasons while I was coaching them," he said.
Original Print Headline: Weeden not guaranteed to start
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