The Cleveland Browns are coming undone. The team is not having the season it was hoping for and now head coach Mike Pettine is admitting tension between the leaders of the Browns while injuries and off-the-field issues become the headlines. As Pettine fights for his job with the Browns, he is hoping changing the quarterback position might once again provide some kind of spark as Johnny Manziel will take back over the starting job.
With Josh McCown out and Austin Davis not impressing, Manziel will return as the team's starter for Week 14 after spending two weeks benched for social media pictures of the quarterback partying in Texas. According to Chris Mortensen, Manziel will get the start as the team begins to look towards the future and whether or not the quarterback can be a part of it. Cleveland faces the 49ers on Sunday with games against Seattle, Kansas City and Pittsburgh to close out the year. If Manziel can at least impress, he could remain the starter for the remainder of the season. Pettine is still denying the report that a starter has been named.
"I haven't spoken to the QBs yet. That's where we are with it," Pettine said, via USAToday.com. "When we talk about that ... we throw it all on the table."
Whoever starts at quarterback could be very shorthanded on the field. Sunday's game saw plenty of players inactive including Taylor Gabriel, Andrew Hawkins, Dwayne Bowe and Terrelle Pryor. That left very little on the field to work with and it got even worse when both Gary Barnidge and Travis Benjamin went down with injuries. Both players are questionable for Week 14 play which could really put pressure on Manziel or Davis. The run game will have to improve with Duke Johnson and Isaiah Crowell.
Pettine is concerned. He knows the Browns are in bad shape right now and it stems further than just on the field. It has been widely reported that Pettine and owner Jimmy Haslam and general manager Ray Farmer are not on the same page when it comes to direction of the franchise and the head coach admits it is getting in the way of things, but it is also simply a result of the situation. According to Pettine, that is simply what happens when a team is losing like the Browns are.
"I can't sit here and say absolutely we're all on board 100 percent," Pettine said, via ESPN.com. "No, that's not reality because when things don't go well, everybody has their opinions and their reasons why. It's going to come down to a brutal self-assessment and to be able to have the strength to make tough decisions and trust them and move forward. When you have the record that we have, if there is not tension in the building, there is a problem."