Orton's Release Won't Change Weeden's Approach

Brandon Weeden will almost certainly enter the season as the Cowboys No. 2 quarterback

With the release of Kyle Orton becoming official on Wednesday, barring something completely unforeseen, Brandon Weeden will begin the season as the No. 2 quarterback on the depth chart behind Tony Romo. But just because the job looks to be his, that doesn’t mean Weeden is going take his foot off the gas.

“Given the situation Kyle has been in in previous years in Dallas, he’s been the backup quarterback, so I think if he was there it would be one more obstacle I would have to kind of hurdle,” Weeden said, per ESPN Dallas. “But at the same time I can’t really get wrapped up in putting all of my attention on that. I need to do what I did in the [organized team activities] and continue to play well and get better. I think hopefully things will work out that way regardless.”

We’d imagine the Cowboys’ willingness to cut ties with Orton had a lot to do with Weeden’s presence on the roster. Dallas was reportedly quite high on Weeden coming out of Oklahoma State in 2012, and were impressed by his work in offseason workouts--in which he got a lot of reps with the 1s, as Tony Romo was recovering from back surgery.

For his part, Weeden has said Dallas presents just the change of scenery he needed, coming off two disappointing seasons in Cleveland.

“I think the reps I got in the OTAs were kind of irreplaceable,” Weeden said. “If I was in a situation where God forbid something happened to Tony and I’m asked to play, those are the guys I’m going to battle with, so those reps I got were invaluable. I know I won’t get many of those in [training] camp, but fortunately I had 12 practices where I was able to get out with those guys. Now it’s, ‘Let’s get to work.’ I’m ready to get to California and get things rolling.”

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