The Cleveland Browns have kept the quarterback position a mystery all week. Preparing to face the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday they have been dealing with an injury to Josh McCown and doubt around Johnny Manziel's ability. Head coach Mike Pettine has refused to say who would be starting under center in Week 10, but the belief is that Manziel will get his second straight start and a chance to prove himself for the future.
While Pettine has stated that the quarterback position will be a game-time announcement, Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer is reporting that Manziel will get the starting nod. Cabot writes that Pettine is keeping the announcement a secret for strategy purposes as McCown is still dealing with a rib and shoulder injury. While Pettine told the media that even the quarterbacks do not know who is starting in Week 11, Manziel has taken all of the first-team reps while McCown heals. According to right guard John Greco, he likes where Manziel's head has been at all week as he believes the quarterback could really improve.
"It was encouraging to see Josh in there because you know he wants to be there," Greco said, via the Plain Dealer. "But I like where Johnny's been all week. There's a lot on his plate this week just because of kind of how exotic their defense is and the different things that they do. I like where he's at. There hasn't been a lot of repeats out there and kind of mental things that we've gone through. Yeah, you don't want to miss blocks, you don't want to drop passes, but you can kind of judge how a practice goes by how many repeats we have, and today there were very few. We've got to finish it up tomorrow and I like where Johnny's been at this week."
Pettine has made it clear that if Manziel were to start in Week 10, it is not because the Browns are currently 2-7. With the season going nowhere, many believe handing the offense over to Manziel could be the best move going forward in order for Cleveland to see if they can really have a future with the quarterback. Jason Cole of Bleacher Report has already said the Browns will be interested in Matthew Stafford if he is available along with Sam Bradford and potentially Kirk Cousins. However, first they must see if Manziel has any future with the team.
Offensive coordinator John DeFilippo recognizes that game planning for the Steelers is tough. In Week 9 the team got big performances from Dwayne Bowe and Duke Johnson, two players they hope to get going again. Manziel certainly has a challenge in front of him. The quarterback was first tasked with trying to beat the undefeated Cincinnati Bengals and now he gets the tough Pittsburgh Steelers. If the quarterback intends to stick around, he must show improvement.
"The Steelers pose a huge, huge challenge for us,'' DeFilippo said, via Plain Dealer. "You watch the Arizona Cardinals, who are a darn-good offense, and they got after them pretty good. This is a tremendous challenge for us. I think whoever, whatever quarterback, whether you are a (Arizona's) Carson Palmer who has been in the league forever or you are Johnny Manziel who is in his second year, that defense is going to pose a challenge for any quarterback."
