The Cleveland Browns drafted Johnny Manziel to be the next face of the franchise. While he dropped out of the top ten, the quarterback was still selected in the first round as the hype continued to grow. Manziel had a forgettable rookie season, barely seeing the field, and then followed that up with a roller coaster offseason. Already out of the running for the starting job in 2015, head coach Mike Pettine is making it clear that Manziel is going nowhere anytime soon.
According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Josh McCown will be the starter and if things go well, that could continue into future seasons considering the veteran signed a multi-year. However, the plan is to still keep and develop Manziel for the future. That differs from the report ESPN's Chris Mortensen gave earlier in the offseason stating that the Browns were "90 percent done" with Manziel. Pettine stressed that would be irresponsible.
Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal reported Pettine told the media that "it's irresponsible to say the team is moving on from Johnny Manziel."
"I don't pay much attention to what's going on outside of the building, but when it potentially can drive a spike between the staff and the team, I have issues with it. To me, to talk about how a team's potentially moved on from a player, or he's not in plans, that's just irresponsible."
Manziel has been getting plenty of support from his teammates as OTAs continue. Brian Hartline and Terrance West stressed that the quarterback is handling himself well and showing increased maturity. Offensive coordinator John DeFilippo told the media that the quarterback is grasping the new offense well as Pettine said he was happy with everything Manziel has done to this point.
"We all feel good about where (Manziel) is," Pettine said. "You could see, he shows some frustration out there because he wants it to be perfect, he wants it to be done right, he wants to do it the way that we're coaching him to do it. He's probably been the hardest guy on himself."
Meanwhile, McCown continues to work specifically with the first-team offense. That unit features Dwayne Bowe who is currently hampered by an injury. According to Mark Kay Cabot of the Plain Dealer, Bowe tweaked a leg injury after getting tangled up in a tackle. Pettine downplayed the issue, but said he would be limited. That will help players like Travis Benjamin and Taylor Gabriel try and earn spots in the new offense.
