The Cleveland Browns are in the exact situation they were hoping to avoid this year. The original plan for the Browns was to have Josh McCown be their starting quarterback with Johnny Manziel as the quiet backup. That plan fell apart rather quickly and now the team is scratching their heads heading into Week 13. With McCown injured and Manziel having lost the trust of the team, who is under center come Sunday?
McCown is officially out for the season. According to Pat McManamon of ESPN.com, the Browns confirmed that the quarterback suffered a fracture collarbone against the Baltimore Ravens and will miss the remainder of the season. Now the Browns have real issues on their hands. When McCown went down, Austin Davis was the quarterback that stepped in following Manziel's demotion for lying to the team about partying over the bye week. Head coach Mike Pettine is not left to decide who gets the starting nod.
"I don't want to head down this slope," Pettine said, via ESPN.com. "I'm going to reserve talk for the quarterback stuff until [Wednesday]."
Prior to Week 12, Manziel had been named the season starter, but social media pictures of the quarterback partying in Texas ended that idea. Daviss stepped in for garbage time minutes and his potential is really unknown right now. The Browns are looking ahead to the future and many believe that involves Manziel and not Davis. According to McManamon, the belief is that Davis will get the nod in Week 13. So where does that leave Manziel?
If Davis does start, the trade rumors around Manziel will get hotter than they already are. The Browns have made it clear that they want to remain faithful to the quarterback and they believe in his potential, but if they are not willing to start him when the team needs a quarterback then his future in Cleveland is not as bright as it once was. The Browns could easily be preparing to move on from the troubled quarterback by trading or releasing him once the season is over. That would leave them back at square one at the position.
The Browns did sign Terrelle Pryor to the roster as either a receiver or potentially a No.3 quarterback. In the short-term, his impact will not be felt. Travis Benjamin, Gary Barnidge and Duke Johnson will need to have big games if the Browns intend to survive the rest of the year. Pryor could be auditioning for a role next year either in Cleveland or elsewhere. It does not seem likely that he could see any playing time at either position right now.
