Weeden maintains confidence despite Cowboys’ struggles

Brandon Weeden has yet to win as the Dallas Cowboys’ quarterback.

He hasn’t won a game as a starter since 2012, extending a streak of futility to 10 games dating to his rookie season with the Cleveland Browns.

But it would be wrong to suggest Weeden hasn’t gotten better, more comfortable and more confident since taking over for the injured Tony Romo.

Weeden has played better than most give him credit for.

He has completed 45 of 59 passes for 551 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. He has completed 76.3 percent of his passes and his quarterback rating of 108.8 ranks sixth in the NFL.

Weeden has put the Cowboys in position to win his starts against the Atlanta Falcons and the New Orleans Saints, although they lost both games.

Weeden can only hope the Cowboys are again in a position for victory Sunday when the defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots come calling. He is preparing to make his third consecutive start, something he hasn’t done since 2012.

“My goal honestly is just to give this team a chance to win,” Weeden said. “I don’t care if I’m 12 of 30. Just give this team a chance to win, whatever that may be, just find a way to give the team a chance to win. That’s my main focus.”

What Weeden doesn’t focus on anymore are the critics on Twitter, nor seemingly backhanded criticism from owner Jerry Jones.

After Sunday’s 26-20 overtime loss to the Drew Brees-led Saints, Jones said Weeden “does some real good things, though it’s not quite apples and oranges when the guy on the other side of the deal is Brees and you are dealing with a guy who is as limited as Weeden.”

Jones doubled down on his comments on his radio show on KRLD/105.3 FM The Fan on Tuesday.

“When you look at the second half of our game against Atlanta and then you look at really the second half against New Orleans, you’ve got to include Weeden in the reason why we didn’t win the game,” Jones said.

Weeden didn’t hear the comments from Jones, but “it still doesn’t mess with my psyche. I don’t worry about those things. I know Drew is one of the best to play the position.

“Yeah, I would say there’s a lot of things I can’t do that Drew Brees can do. I don’t care what my limitations are or aren’t. My job is to find a way to get this team to win a game and do our part offensively and get in the end zone and score as many points and give our team a chance to win.”

“I do a good job of blocking everything out,” Weeden said. “I deleted Twitter a long time ago.

“I just don’t listen to it. It’s as simple as that. Is there pressure that comes with this position? Shoot, yeah. There’s probably not a more pressure-packed position in all of sports, maybe other than playing shortstop, backing up Derek Jeter when he was in New York.”

Weeden was big on Twitter in college at Oklahoma State, but got away from it when he was drafted in the first round by the Browns in 2012.

“I was pretty interactive in college,” Weeden said. “I remember everybody that always talked [stuff], they never had a picture of themselves. It was some cartoon or something, and it was always probably a 12-year-old kid that damn sure never played quarterback, and damn sure never played quarterback in the NFL. I’m 32 years old. I don’t need a 12-year-old telling me how to play quarterback.”

The people who are paid to judge his play at quarterback are pretty pleased.

Coach Jason Garrett said there are no thoughts of replacing Weeden with the newly acquired and more experienced Matt Cassel.

“I think Brandon has done a really nice job,” Garrett said. “Like any player, the more you play the more confident you get. He’s prepared when he comes into the game and he’s shown poise in the games.”

The Cowboys have gained more confidence in Weeden too.

His credibility in the locker room and with the coaches rose against the Saints.

Weeden took the Cowboys on an eight-play, 91-yard drive that tied the score at 20-20 with 1:51 left in the game. He threw a 17-yard touchdown pass to receiver Terrance Williams on fourth-and-7.

“That was big,” offensive coordinator Scott Linehan said. “He needed a drive like that when the game’s tight to go down and put his team in position to win the game. That’s the quarterback’s job in the NFL. I’ve got to agree it was important for us to see that for moving forward.”

“It would be a good win [to beat New England],” Weeden said. “More than anything, just to get back on track. Get the momentum going. Confidence isn’t shaken in here. We just need to get the momentum back on our side and pick up where we left off a couple of weeks ago.”

This story was originally published October 9, 2015 at 7:38 PM with the headline "Weeden maintains confidence despite Cowboys’ struggles."