Cleveland Browns coach Pat Shurmur and offensive coordinator Brad Childress continue to have rookie quarterback Brandon Weeden's back. Will that matter?
Shurmur, Childress and general manager Tom Heckert might be gone after the season if new owner Jimmy Haslam makes major changes. The quarterback might be one of them.
"There are a lot of things that I'm very, very happy about watching him play," Shurmur told The Plain Dealer. "Then, of course, now that he's had a season under his belt, he'll come back here in the offseason, much like a lot of quarterbacks in this league that went on to have really good careers -- just pick one. They all had rookie years where they were much better in their second year. I think he's shown quite a bit this year that's good."
CEO Joe Banner planned to evaluate Weeden during the final seven games, but a shoulder injury will sideline him for Week 17. He finished with 3,385 passing yards, 14 touchdowns, 17 interceptions and a 72.6 quarterback rating.
The 2013 draft class isn't predicted to be strong at quarterback, but a new owner, front office and coaches could want their own guy. Weeden didn't exactly set the world on fire, but he also didn't have much help outside of rookie running back Trent Richardson.
Follow Kareem Copeland on Twitter @kareemcopeland.
