Cowboys owner Jerry Jones believes Brandon Weeden has some work to do to be as good of a backup quarterback as Kyle Orton, but he admits Weeden’s performance through the offseason--along with Orton’s refusal to show up and the monetary concerns surrounding the whole situation--helped the team come to the decision to part ways with Orton last week.
“We liked what we saw from Weeden in [Orton’s] absence,” Jones said, via the team’s official website. “That was pretty good stuff. Does he have a lot to do to be where let’s say Kyle Orton might have been starting against San Francisco? Yes, he’s got a lot of work to do and we know that. On the other hand, he does a lot of good things as well.”
To be sure, the Cowboys got a good, long look at Weeden this summer. With Orton no-showing and Tony Romo limited as he recovered from back surgery, the former first round pick got a good deal of snaps with the first team. Weeden viewed his time with the 1s as a golden opportunity, and he took advantage of it.
Jones hopes taking advantage of opportunities is a theme of this camp.
“It’s kind of a mantra for what’s going to go on out here during training camp,” Jones said. “You need to be out there, you need to be on the field, you need to be doing your best every play or somebody else can step up there. That was all alive and well in this decision. But it’s important to understand we were paying Kyle a lot of money and that money can go toward paying a pretty good football player that can help us win in our judgment more than having that much invested in his position at backup quarterback.”
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