Browns Offensive Coordinator Brad Childress 12-20-12
(On what happened on 
(On what Weeden needs to do after he throws an interception like the one early in the second half against Washington)- “He needs to get back and look. He gets on the sideline, he looks at the pictures. I don’t know if you’re asking directly what happens after that.”
(On how he moves forward from throwing interceptions)- “Just like he’s done all year long, we’ve got to keep shooting. You can’t go into a shell and be afraid to throw it up out there, obviously with merit. You need to see those kinds of things, but once that happens to you one time you’re a little bit more diplomatic with your next throw. Without holding on to it and being conservative with it.”
(On if Weeden is being over coached)- “I don’t know. Most coaches I know coach them right up to the time that the ball gets kicked and then through that and after that. I don’t know. I guess, I probably didn’t equate up to the Indianapolis game and to now. You have to suffice to say he’s a rookie, he’s going to have some back steps as we go. Sometimes it’s going to be three steps ahead, one step back. Do I like it what way? Do I prefer it that way? No, I’d like to see it as a steady climb, but he’s going to digress every now and then, as I think most rookies do. It’s rare when they don’t. Whether we’re talking about the guy we’re playing on the other side this week. Go back and look at some of his numbers from his rookie year.”
(On what is happening on the plays where Weeden is holding onto the ball too long)- “I’d probably beg to differ with you on whether he’s getting it out. You don’t see him taking an inordinate amount of sacks where he just flat doesn’t know where to go with it, or how to get it there or how to throw it away and live to play another down. I probably don’t see that that way. Has he had some that have been slapped back at him? He has. You look at those things sometimes you say, ‘Jesus, the guy’s too short, is his delivery this way?’ It’s probably because those guys on the defensive line, when they get stuck now and our lines had been doing a nice job of protecting; when they get stuck they’re timing jumps. Typically, they’re standing around the line of scrimmage, they can’t get there. You have to give kudos to those guys because they haven’t quit on the rush and from our standpoint, we probably can’t be staring in the same spot for too long.”
(On how you temper Denver’s pass rush)- “You better make provisions to double, to chip, to slide protections, to fade a tight end in there and help your tackle every now. Those two guys are something coming off of the edges, (Elvis) Dumervil and (Von) Miller. I probably didn’t have as great of a feeling for them how good they are or how fast they are until you spend time starting to watch film on these guys. They run a lot of people down. I think probably the people that don’t get enough credit are those inside guys, those inside players, those defensive tackles that are pushing the pocket. You know what you’ve got in the speed coming off of the edges.”
(On if Weeden is hesitant to throw the ball)- “I haven’t seen him be particularly reticent to throw the football. I haven’t seen him hold it. I think he’s getting it out predominantly on time. Are there some throws where maybe he’s pulled back on it? There may be a few of those. I don’t think any more or any less than any other quarterbacks that I’ve seen play.”
(On
(On what does he see from Weeden that says this isn’t as good as he will get at 29)- “I don’t know. I guess that’s there obviously because of his age. We’re talking about a rookie. It’s no different than if a guy goes on a Mormon mission when he’s 19 and he comes back to BYU, and he’s still a freshman. He’s a freshman. You say, ‘Well he’s not by age.’ No, he’s not by age, but he’s a rookie in this venue. I think that kind of encapsulates where he’s at. He’s in a rookie season of learning what the drill is and getting that first lap around the track. That’s no different than he or
(On if it hurts because he’s coming into the league along with other dynamic quarterbacks)- “When you say that, I go right away to (Andrew) Luck and I note that he’s maybe got four more touchdown passes, but has one more interception. I think his passer rating is below Blaine Gabberts, below the kid at the Vikings (Christian Ponder), below a lot of people. Perception wise, does it hurt him coming in? It doesn’t hurt him. It’s just going to be called a pretty doggone strong class as it goes forward I think.”
(On how much can Weeden grow at his age)- “If you’d give me this Tony (Grossi), you’d say do you think Andrew Luck is mature, or you think he’s going to have a growth spurt or anything like that? Or add 20 pounds or inches. How much is he going to grow? He’s got all his faculties about him that you’re saying he’s probably got about what he’s going to have. His experience is going to be the same as Brandon’s, providing that they both start 16 games. He’s had maybe a little bit more success in terms of the wins. He started probably faster than Brandon started. I would think maybe a 29-year old, maybe, would process faster than a 23-year old. We’re talking about chronological age. I don’t know that there are a lot of case studies on this thing. From a physical maturity standpoint, I don’t know how much he’s going to change. What kind of offseason he has is going to have something to do with it, how many offseason programs he has been in.”
(On what wears a quarterback down and if it’s taking a lot of sacks over the years)- “I don’t think that there’s a finite number of throws that you can squeeze out. It’s not like toothpaste coming out of the tube, where you say we’re 29 here, we don’t have much more to go here. There are guys that maintain that stroke. I’m going to the extreme, but Brett Favre at 40 could still throw it. He could tell you that he could still throw it. It’s just that he didn’t have some other faculties that he would like to possess. The beating that they take has something to do with it. You’re right, it’s not like a running back that comes out and you say, ‘Boy that’s a high mileage guy.’ Or like a rental car at the airport, you say, you’ve got a lot of miles on it right here. They’ve been pretty easy miles I think.”
(On how he would rate the talent around Brandon Weeden)- “I don’t know if I’m a good one to rate. You’re probably better off to talk to a personnel person about that.”
(On Weeden having to play with the hand he’s dealt)- “I don’t think it’s crying poor. I think you’re always in a climb to acquire personnel. Whether it’s in the running game or in the passing game, whether it’s at tight end or wide receiver. Guys that can complement him, if you can get better in another area it only stands to serve you in the passing area.”
(On is it because a lot of the players are still young)- “In our case, yeah. Those are some guys that just showed up after him.”
(On is there an overriding reason he is missing the open receivers)- “That’s a good question. I couldn’t assign it into one box I don’t think. Whether it’s got anxious, got a little bit too pumped, didn’t see a guy. I don’t think I’d put all those in one category if you’re terming his misses Tony (Grossi). I just couldn’t feed them all into one thing and say, ‘Well, it’s because his heart was beating too fast, or he was too excited, it was the first series of the game.”
(On if he talks to Weeden about why he missed the throws when they watch tape)- “We talk about making the routine plays routinely is what we talk about. I think if you can make those routine plays, then the special plays come based on the guys that are standing on the other end of the football.”
(On Weeden having a better year if he hits those throws)- “To me, that’s like saying, if
(On how he will project what kind of player Weeden will be next year)- “I would think he’d be, I’m not going to say leaps and bounds. I would say you’d see a different guy come to training camp, and progress through the preseason and into the regular season. That’s provided things stay static around him, which there’s no guarantee there either. This is a fluid business as we all know.”
(On how much of a factor
(On if he senses that Richardson is wearing down)- “I don’t get that sense at all, nope. That’s one thing that, I feel like he’s strong right here as we go into the last two weeks.”
(On if he takes time to think about what could happen in two weeks)- “I can’t waste a lot of time doing that. That’s kind of a misuse of energy. What will be, will be. I believe that.”
(On if he likes the fact that Weeden said he hasn’t been good enough)- “I like that among any player in this league that is not a displace blame guy. I think as a quarterback, you’ve got to own it particularly, because they can say, ‘Hey all a guy has to do is be a game manager.’ Anybody that touches the ball 60 or 70 times a game is going to have something to do with the outcome. Whether it’s the center quarterback exchange, or whether it’s a long throw for a bomb.”
