“I’m just excited – seriously – I’m excited for him”, Harbaugh said.
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In the span of about three days, none of which included a game being played, Manziel went from starting quarterback to the No. 3 quarterback.
Following his latest off-field misstep, the controversial quarterback will watch from the sideline Monday night when the Cleveland Browns host an injury-riddled Baltimore Ravens team playing its first game in eight years without Joe Flacco.
The big news for Cleveland last week was the decision to bench quarterback Johnny Manziel and replace him with veteran Josh McCown.
This is how the McCown vs Schaub Monday night battle was formed between the 3-7 Ravens and 2-8 Browns. Manziel is next on the depth chart and that could mean he doesn’t get to put on his uniform.
“This is a decision that I know, for him in particular, stings in the short term but feel it is an absolutely necessary to maximize his chance for future success”, Pettine said.
Manziel’s promotion to starter for the rest of the season was the story of the bye week.
He noted that the bye week was a test for the quarterback and he certainly did not pass. With Pettine stressing accountability, Manziel needs to find it as he hopes this is not the end of the quarterback’s time in Cleveland.
“I addressed this situation in detail on Wednesday”, Pettine said.
“The way the week’s gone, we’re ready to go play and cut it loose”, Schaub said.
McCown credited Manziel for his approach in a pre-practice meeting in the quarterbacks’ room less than 24 hours after Pettine made the coaching change. He has not spoken to reporters since his demotion. He understands the reason, but that doesn’t ease the sting. “I think that that’s where his preparation will come in, and we’re confident he’ll do a good job for us”.
“All of us as people, myself included, we all are a work-in-progress every day”, he said.
“I don’t think they’ll cut him before the end of the season”, Cabot wrote, “but they’ll probably part ways sometime in the offseason”. “There is no doubt in my mind that Johnny is going to bounce back”.
Asked Friday whether Manziel lied to the coaches about the party video, DeFilippo said, “I’m going to leave those conversations between myself and coach”. Josh McCown is starting for the Browns at QB and his lifetime record in the National Football League as a starter is 18-39. But I didn’t want that to be a deciding factor in this, ‘Well, let’s not do anything because we need to see.’ This was too important. “I’m excited for his opportunity, and our players are confident in him, and it has really nothing to do with proving anybody right or wrong”. He was very hard on himself after this game knowing some of the mistakes he made, and hopefully, he falls in that category of ‘Hey, I made a mistake. “It will be cool to get out there as a team and try to do as much as we can to prove that the Browns are trying to save their season a little bit”. “You lose trust in buckets and you regain it in drops”.
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In four seasons at Carolina and three previous campaigns with the Browns, the 6-foot-6, 250-pound Barnidge had been used primarily as a blocker, never catching more than 13 passes in any full season. Andrew Hawkins and Taylor Gabriel are both out with concussions, leaving Cleveland with Travis Benjamin, Brian Hartline, Dwayne Bowe and Marlon Moore to fill out the position. LG Joel Bitonio returned to practice after injuring his ankle on November 5 at Cincinnati and sitting out against Pittsburgh the following week.
