“BEREA, Ohio “ Browns coach Mike Pettine insisted Wednesday he has knocked Johnny Manziel down but not out of Cleveland. Manziel once told reporters his personal hero was 1984 Heisman victor Doug Flutie from Boston College, who is also of Lebanese ancestry. “I think Johnny has played enough football where we know what we have in him”. This is where we had an obvious shortcoming..
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On Thanksgiving Day’s national TV broadcast, Fox Sports’ Jay Glazer broke the story that Manziel lied to the Browns about partying in an Austin, Texas night club, and then tried to get the individuals he was with to lie in an attempt to cover up for his widely reported escapades.
Has Manziel played his last down as a Brown? .
This is a heavy dose of adversity.
“Everyone in this organization wants what is best for Johnny”, said Pettine, lying through his teeth. We told him yesterday – this isn’t a dead end. This is a hurdle..
One of Johnny Manziel’s biggest boosters is sticking by the troubled quarterback and says the Browns will be rewarded if they stick by him, too.
Offensive coordinator John DeFilippo left open the possibility that Manziel will play again this season. “Everybody has their own feeling, but deep down, I know there’s a good person in there, a lot of talent, and somebody is going to tap into it. I believe that”.
Pettine said much of his displeasure in Manziel stemmed in him not seeming to understand that his behavior was a reflection on the team.
“I certainly hope not”.
“He’s made great progress on the field, ” Gruden said. But sometimes you have to take a step back to take a few forward.
Manziel went from being named the starting quarterback to being demoted not to backup status, but third-string status. The benching was a hard blow to the 22-year-old, but Pettine said it was essential if he’s going to develop into a full-time starter. Last week, we made him the starter for the rest of the season.
“When Pettine says “play like a Brown” that means you are elite”.
Pettine admitted that he was very disappointed in Manziel following the photos. How does it get handled? We all saw how quickly that changed.
“Josh McCown will be the starting quarterback on Monday night against the Ravens”.
“It is disappointing. I am not going to lie – it is disappointing”, DeFilippo said.
McCown sympathizes with Manziel, who blew his chance to build off a 372-yard performance on November 15 in Pittsburgh.
“Josh McCown is our starter,” Pettine said.
“I can only grade him and evaluate him on the work that he does in the building, and he’s been doing a great job”, Thomas said. Were in this thing together..
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But Manziel spent part of his bye week partying – even though the team had laid out a zero-tolerance policy for any off-field missteps, not to mention the quarterback said he planned to spend his week off relaxing.
