Cleveland Browns wide receiver Travis Benjamin will likely see plenty of targets from quarterback Austin Davis this Sunday, as the Browns will likely be trying to play catch up with the Cincinnati Bengals. Josh McCown started last Monday’s game but is out for the season after suffering a broken collarbone.
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After McCown left Monday’s game due to injury, Davis came in and kept the Browns’ chance of winning alive.
While Pettine said Pryor’s transition to wide receiver will continue, the coach is far more willing to entertain Pryor as a No. 3 quarterback than he was in training camp. “He was prepared, played well and put us in position to win”, Pettine said in a statement. We’ve got a lot of good special teams players and they’re very well coached. Either way, he played well enough to earn the starting nod over Manziel, who still needs to make up for his actions.
That Pettine opted for Davis, who started a handful of games for the St. Louis Rams past year, over his 2014 first-round pick in Manziel shows that the coach wasn’t truly making a decision in the Browns’ best football interests. And in the Browns’ heartbreaking Monday night loss to the Baltimore Ravens, McCown was injured and unable to continue.
“I’m not really too anxious about getting fined, I thought those refs (stunk)”, 49ers left guard Alex Boone said in the locker room Sunday. The Browns waited five weeks for Turbin to heal a high ankle sprain, and then released him when they discovered he had slippery hands (two fumbles without being hit).
“If you look at the entire league, when you have a long-term answer and you have continuity at that position and the offense can be built around the skillset and the mentality that you have that presence that everyone is looking to that position for leadership, and when that is bedrock, you’re in much better shape”, Pettine said after announcing Davis will start against the Bengals on December 6 at FirstEnergy Stadium. Unless the Browns ignore the performance by Austin Davis or throw Pryor into the fire, it’s Manziel’s turn.
Baltimore kicker Justin Tucker added a 35-yard field goal in the fourth quarter for a seven-point lead before the Davis-to-Benjamin pass tied the score. The passing game has not been a liability for the Browns this year, and it doesn’t appear it will become one if Davis is handed the keys.
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Pettine also said that he has seen no serious level of dissatisfaction from Manziel that might indicate he would want out of Cleveland after the season. Cleveland has started ten different quarterbacks throughout the Dalton era. He completed 63.4 percent o his passes for 2,001 yards, 12 touchdowns and nine interceptions.
