BEREA, Ohio Browns rookie quarterback Brandon Weeden has been working overtime to get on the same page with his skill players, especially the young ones such as receivers Greg Little and Josh Gordon.
Problem is, he hardly even has the book on some of them yet because of injuries.
With a little more than three weeks left before the Sept. 9 opener against the Philadelphia Eagles, Weeden hasn't had his full complement of weapons in practices or preseason games.
In Thursday's outing in Green Bay which was a quasi-dress rehearsal for Weeden the following key players were out with injuries: starting running back Trent Richardson (left knee scope), starting receiver Mohamed Massaquoi (concussion), rookie receiver Travis Benjamin (undisclosed), starting tight end Ben Watson (undisclosed) and second-team tight end Jordan Cameron (bone bruise in back).
Fortunately for Weeden, Cameron and Benjamin returned to practice Friday, but with so many guys in and out of the lineup, the rookie quarterback hasn't been able to establish consistency with the the first-teamers.
"That's the one challenging thing,'' Weeden said. "Being a rookie, I'm still learning the guys as well as they're learning me. There's a lot of guys cycling through and I think that's good for us (in preseason). But once you get to the regular season, you want to be throwing to the same guys all of the time.''
Weeden, who's completed 15 of 29 attempts for 180 yards and a 56.7 rating, was starting to develop chemistry with Massaquoi, Benjamin and Cameron when they got knocked out of action in the Detroit game Aug. 10. Watson has been sidelined since Aug. 4, and Weeden's falling behind on timing with Richardson.
"Not having those guys ... it's tough on our offense, but fortunately these games don't count as a win-loss,'' Weeden said. "Those guys are key assets to this offense and guys we're relying on to make a lot of plays for us."
Weeden, who has yet to throw a TD pass in 11 series, completed his first pro attempt to Massaquoi for 12 yards in Detroit, and then lost him to a concussion. On his second attempt in Detroit, Weeden hit a streaking Benjamin in stride for a 34-yarder down the left sideline and the two were heating up. But Benjamin is just getting worked back into the lineup.
Weeden was lighting it up with Cameron in practice, and also completed a 16-yarder to him in Detroit, but Cameron suffered a bone-bruise on a 42-yard catch from Colt McCoy in the second quarter and missed the whole next week.
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Cleveland Browns' Brandon Weeden struggles to develop chemistry with key elements missing
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