This will be the second start this season for Manziel, who won against Tennessee in Week 2 when McCown was sidelined with a concussion sustained on the season’s opening drive on September 13 against the Jets.
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After being coy to the media about who would be under center for Week 9 play, the Cleveland Browns will be starting Johnny Manziel against the Cincinnati Bengals. The Bengals defense might be licking its chops.
A confident Pierre-Paul said he has been able to shed blockers and grab opponents since rejoining the team last week, and practicing for the first time since being injured.
The lack of consistency stems from the injuries the Browns have sustained on offense and defense.
Browns starting quarterback Josh McCown on Tuesday told reporters he was having trouble sleeping and breathing while dealing with a painful rib injury. The only quarterbacks to not put up 250-plus yards against the Bengals were Russell Wilson and the duo of Matt McGloin and Derek Carr (Carr was injured during the game). “Our guys will be aware of that, and we have to adjust on the fly”.
Dalton threw two interceptions on the day but you see him growing as a player and a leader. With such stability, the Bengals have gone 47-23-1 in the regular season since 2011. “I’m not concerned about it”, Jackson said. You can’t let anything like that creep into your head. “My experience in that game from a year ago should help me”.
“I think [Manziel] has done a much better job this year of doing exactly what he has been asked to do, inside and around us”, Farmer said.
The Cincinnati Bengals are off to the best start in franchise history at 7-0.
If at the end of Thursday night’s game we can answer yes to all three of those questions, Manziel may have led the Browns to their third victory of the season and shocked the world.
In addition to McCown, the Browns also will likely be without strong safety Donte Whitner and cornerback Joe Haden on Thursday night. “After that, we righted our course”. This is a big football game. It’s a very important game for us. He has started 75 consecutive games since being drafted in the second round in 2011. Those guys haven’t been on the field as much in the season or playing together lately and it’s hard to adjust. The series has been dominated by the home team which has gone 51-32 all-time. But, the skill sets are decidedly different. Sure, the Bengals have a commanding three-and-a-half-game lead in the division, and yes, just like the win over the Seahawks was a big check mark, so too was this one over the reigning division champ Steelers.
Browns head coach Mike Pettine announced Wednesday morning that Manziel will start Thursday against the undefeated Bengals, and he has a tough test on a short week.
-Bengals WR A.J. Green vs. Browns CB Johnson Bademosi and a depleted Browns secondary. If Manziel does get the call, he’ll have to erase the memory of his first career start against the Bengals last December, when he was intercepted twice and threw for 80 yards in a 30-0 drubbing. So, finally, Manziel will get a chance to play. Despite notching just one win for the team this season as a starter, McCown has been pretty good-completing 65 percent of his passes for 1,897 yards, 11 touchdowns, four interceptions and a QB rating of 95.2.
Do not expect Manziel to perform miracles for the Browns, or to even win the game.
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Manziel played a very small portion of last season and when he did, he was not impressive.
