BEREA - Brad Childress thought for a moment before answering the question.
Rookie quarterback Brandon Weeden has several traits that excite the Browns offensive coordinator, and now Childress was asked to narrow them down to one.
"I don't think he ever lets you see him sweat," Childress said. "He doesn't ride the rollercoaster, and I think that's huge for a quarterback. It's never as bad or never as good as you think it is. I think he's wired the right way that you want a quarterback to be in my opinion."
More will be revealed during the course of the 16-game regular season that starts Sunday at home against the Philadelphia Eagles. Exactly 35 days before his 29th birthday Weeden will make his NFL debut as he attempts to do the seemingly impossible and deliver wins to a franchise that's had just two winning seasons since returning to the NFL in 1999.
Childress has worked closer with Weeden than even coach Pat Shurmur, who has to divide his time among all the position groups. One of the reasons Childress was hired in the offseason was to remove some of the pressure from Shurmur, who doubled his work load last season serving as the offensive coordinator.
"By all measures this (game against the Eagles) will be the next step for him," Childress said. "The speed of these regular-season games, I think he's come along just about like you'd expect a rookie quarterback to.
"I don't think it's been too big for him. I think he's gone about it methodically. Coaching quarterbacks, he's a flat-line guy. You don't like to see those big spikes and ups and downs."
Weeden had an inconsistent training camp and preseason. His arm strength clearly stood out among the group of quarterbacks, and on most practice days he showed a good touch. There were also times when his go-for-it-all mindset got him into trouble, whether in a 7-on-7 drill or against one of the four teams the Browns played in the preseason.
Another concern was the lack of ball security. Weeden fumbled three times in the preseason, losing possession twice.
"Staring with me I have to take care of the football," Weeden said. "We had the ball on the ground too many times between me and the backs. You can't spot a team 10 or 17 points, especially as good as they are offensively and defensively."
Weeden is in a unique position for most rookie quarterbacks in that he will be surrounded by other rookie starters. The line will have a first-year starter in Mitchell Schwartz at right tackle. Rookie Trent Richardson could start at running back after returning from knee surgery. In addition, rookie Josh Gordon will be rotated into action as the third receiver.
"That's a lot," Weeden said when reminded that 14 rookies made the final roster. "I'm not a numbers' buff in terms of NFL history, but this has got to be close to a record. There are going to be some ups and some downs."
The Browns have adopted the thinking that the infusion of youth will pay dividends in the future.
"We have some guys that don't get tired," Weeden said. "They run around and continue to grow like Energizer bunnies. It's still early but I think a lot of these guys have short memories. You have to have a short memory to play in this league and in big-time professional sports in general. Hopefully, we'll use that to our advantage and benefit from it."
