Brandon Weeden's first 24 hours as a Houston Texan were topsy-turvy.
"It's been crazy," the quarterback said. "I got the call, we were obviously extremely excited. I could've jumped in my car and drove down right away, but they got me a flight in late last night and didn't get much sleep last night so it's been a whirlwind."
A starter in Dallas for three games this season, and once in 2014, Weeden was let go by the Cowboys on Tuesday and claimed off waivers by the Texans on Thursday. With starter Brian Hoyer going through the concussion protocol and unable to practice on Wednesday and Thursday, the Texans added Weeden to the mix behind Yates.
"Brandon was a guy that we had great reports on as a person, as a good teammate, good locker room
guy," head coach Bill O'Brien said. "So far what we see that's definitely the case. Then he's got a real good arm, he's got a lot of arm, so it was good to be able to get him."
Weeden's completed 72.4 percent of his passes for 738 yards this year. He's tossed a pair of touchdowns and been picked off twice. He dove into the Texans' playbook, and is impressed with what he's seen from an offense he described as "challenging" to learn.
"What I'm trying to do is kind of compare what's similar and kind of translate into what I know verbally then learn it that way," Weeden said. "I got it last night and I laid there like 'Oh my God, what am I looking at', but it's a good system. I know a lot of guys that have played in it, and when you've got good players and got a good staff it's a good recipe."
O'Brien said he and the coaching staff need to get Weeden as well-versed as possible in the offense, in time for the Sunday matchup with the Jets.
"It's part of our job coaching-wise to get these guys trained and get them ready to go," O'Brien said. "We can't give him the whole gamut, that's for sure, but that's our job."
The former Oklahoma State signal-caller said he'll "have to grind" from now until kickoff, as he plans on being ready to go if needed.
"That's my job," Weeden said. "If not, I'm doing everybody else a disservice. I'm going to do my part to be as ready as possible."
Weeden and the Texans will practice again on Friday at the Houston Methodist Training Center, and host New York on Sunday at NRG Stadium.
The Houston Texans roster in photos. (Updated 4/8/2021)
TE, Jordan Akins, #88
DL, Auzoyah Alufohai, #98
DB, Cornell Armstrong, #30
OL, Beau Benzschawel, #62
DL, Ross Blacklock, #90
OL, Justin Britt
DB, Terrence Brooks
TE, Pharaoh Brown, #85
OL, Cohl Cabral, #72
OL, Marcus Cannon
WR, Randall Cobb, #18
DL, Maliek Collins
WR, Chris Conley
WR, Brandin Cooks, #13
WR, Isaiah Coulter, #82
WR, Keke Coutee, #16
DB, Keion Crossen, #35
LB, Zach Cunningham, #41
LB, Tae Davis
DL, Brandon Dunn, #92
LB, Duke Ejiofor, #53
WR, Alex Erickson
K, Ka'imi Fairbairn, #7
QB, Ryan Finley
OL, Hjalte Froholdt, #77
LB, Jonathan Greenard, #52
LB, Kamu Grugier-Hill
LB, Nate Hall, #48
DB, Vernon Hargreaves III, #26
OL, Charlie Heck, #67
RB, Dontrell Hilliard, #27
OL, Tytus Howard, #71
RB, Buddy Howell, #38
RB, Mark Ingram
TE, Ryan Izzo
LB, Jordan Jenkins
RB, David Johnson, #31
DL, Jaleel Johnson
DB, Lonnie Johnson Jr., #32
P, Cameron Johnston
DB, Desmond King
LB, Christian Kirksey
DL, Shaq Lawson
RB, Phillip Lindsay
LB, Jacob Martin, #54
OL, Justin McCray
LB, Whitney Mercilus, #59
WR, Steven Mitchell Jr., #11
DB, Terrance Mitchell
WR, Donte Moncrief
DB, A.J. Moore Jr., #33
WR, Chris Moore
DB, Eric Murray, #23
LB, Hardy Nickerson
DL, Charles Omenihu, #94
DB, Jonathan Owens, #36
LB, Kevin Pierre-Louis
RB, Scottie Phillips, #40
TE, Paul Quessenberry
DB, John Reid, #34
DB, Justin Reid, #20
DL, Derek Rivers
WR, Andre Roberts
DB, Bradley Roby, #21
OL, Max Scharping, #74
DB, Tremon Smith
OL, Jordan Steckler
QB, Tyrod Taylor
DL, Vincent Taylor
LB, Joe Thomas
DB, Tavierre Thomas
OL, Cole Toner
OL, Laremy Tunsil, #78
TE, Kahale Warring, #81
QB, Deshaun Watson, #4
LS, Jon Weeks #46
