Cleveland Browns head coach Mike Pettine deflected questions Friday but did not deny that quarterback Johnny Manziel was dishonest with him about a partying video. Upon finding out that the video was in fact from the bye week even after Manziel denied it, the Browns chose to not only bench Manziel for Monday night’s game against the Baltimore Ravens, but to demote him all the way down to third string quarterback. “So I haven’t seen anything like that, and I’m not going to be able to speculate on it right now”. “Whatever is dealt his way, he deals with it with a lot of confidence and poise, and I am proud of the way he handled this”.
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Pettine was asked Wednesday if Manziel admitted the video was from last weekend. “Like I said, I have nothing more to add”.
“All of us as people, myself included, we all are a work-in-progress every day”, he said. I know what a competitor he is having been around him, how much he loves football, how important it is to him. Or not. Manziel, who spent part of the offseason in a rehab facility, celebrated his promotion with another hard-partying incident that was caught on video, then allegedly encouraged friends to lie about it to cover for him.
A video showing Manziel clutching a large bottle while singing and dancing with fellow revelers late last week in a nightclub in Austin, Texas, surfaced online Monday.
The Browns will face off against Baltimore on Monday night and, despite Gordon’s proclamations, Manziel is highly unlikely to see the field.
Along those lines, Pettine stressed quarterback will always be held to a higher standard than any other position. “Haven’t made that decision yet”. “It was right on the heels of discussions that not just I had with him but (quarterbacks coach) Kevin O’Connell and (offensive coordinator John DeFilippo) Flip and just that trust was violated”.
It could be said that the loser of this one will be rewarded next season with the first pick in the NFL Draft, and with little else to watch for, both sides will be looking to make the most of the situation they’re in with injuries.
“Just being around here, I feel like I haven’t been in the huddle with a lot of guys, but a lot of the guys that are playing I have been in the huddle with on the look team”, he said. “You have a player that, I think we can all agree in this room, has come so far from a football standpoint in the product he put on the field from a year ago to go out and play that way on the road against a very good Pittsburgh Steeler defense”. “It would be a very good thing for us just from a confidence level and from where we want to go and things we can hang our hat on”. I think we’d all agree on that. We know Johnny’s issues and we are working with him every day.
The blow was softened for Pettine because he’s going back to the guy he’s preferred all along, veteran Josh McCown.
Heading into his team’s bye week, Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel told reporters that he planned… Citing a breach of trust, Pettine announced Tuesday that the former Heisman Trophy victor would be behind Josh McCown and Austin Davis on the depth chart.
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Or maybe Ray Farmer and/or Jimmy Haslam told Pettine he has no choice but to have Manziel on his team. But the 36-year-old is back behind center and eager for a second shot at the Ravens, whom he scorched for a franchise record 457 yards when the teams played on October 11.
