Though I completely understand why fans have no interest in seeing 36-year-old Josh McCown back under center for Cleveland, how could anyone be OK with the idea of letting Manziel keep his job after this latest development?
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Browns coaches had done all they could to help and support Manziel all year.
When asked if there was any discussion about cutting Manziel, Pettine offered a simple response. “Obviously it isn’t the easiest situation, but we work through it. We work through this thing together”.
More on The Decision: Pettine said the final straw in Manziel’s demotion was that he “violated the trust” with his bye-week antics in Austin, TX., after the coaches gave him the starting job.
Per Jay Glazer, not only did Manziel lie to Pettine and the rest of the front office when asked about the partying video, he also asked his friends to do the same.
Manziel has been under the microscope for his off-the-field behavior since his time as a star at Texas A&M.
“This is a heavy dose of adversity”. He’s made progress. We told him, ‘This isn’t a dead end. “This is a hurdle”.
In a report by USA Today, Cleveland Browns’ Quarterback Johnny Manziel is going to warm the bench once again.
Pettine was surprised by the video, but more disappointed than anything. How Manziel can earn the trust back with Pettine, offensive coordinator John DeFilippo, quarterbacks coach Kevin O’Connell and his teammates “will be a process”, Pettine said.
The Browns made Manziel the 22nd overall pick in the first round of the 2014 NFL Draft, a decision that was both heralded and scrutinized at the same time. And then, making it worse, he called the people involved with that and said, “Hey, cover this up for me, make sure they think it’s old as well”.
“There’s no personal rift between he and I”, he said. Sometimes, you have to take one step backward to go four or five steps forward.
Josh McCown began the season as the Browns’ starter.
“Per Glazer, Manziel not only told the team that the photos weren’t taken over the weekend but also recruited others to vouch for the falsehood”.
He impressed in his last start for Cleveland, throwing for 372 yards against the Pittsburgh Steelers and completing 73.3% of his attempted passes, but he could do nothing to prevent a 30-9 defeat on Sunday 15 November.
After spending 10 weeks last offseason in a treatment facility for unspecified reasons (we can only guess) the scrambling gunslinger looked like a new man on the field this year.
“You lose trust in buckets”, Pettine said, “and you regain it in drops”.
“Things can change”, he said. I am going to get a chance to go and relax like everyone else in this locker room is.
“We want what”s best for him,” Pettine said. “‘Well, let’s not do anything because we need to see.’ This was too important and it is something that is regrettable, but we feel that we had to do”.
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On Wednesday, head coach Mike Pettine and several Browns players followed with their feelings about the move.
