Pettine predictably says McCown will start if he’s healthy

This may have been an easier question to answer if Johnny Manziel was not seen roaming Texas A&M’s campus this past weekend – a near bye week given that the Browns played in Cincinnati that Thursday.

Browns starting quarterback Josh McCown is not practicing because of injured ribs, leaving his status for this week’s game in Pittsburgh uncertain.

At this point, nobody is doubting that McCown is better than Manziel right now and gives the Browns a better chance to win this season. “He’s been out due to injury and potentially is coming back”. I get the call for, ‘Hey, why not (Manziel)? Even if McCown is healthy, Pettine could decide to give Manziel another start.

Browns quarterback Josh McCown sat out practice Tuesday as he continues to recover from a painful rib injury suffered October 25 in a 24-6 loss to the St. Louis Rams and exacerbated November 1 in a 34-20 defeat against the Arizona Cardinals.

But at 2-7, the Browns’ season is all but over, and McCown doesn’t have a long-term future with the team. In the second half Manziel played erratic and tried to make to many big plays instead of playing in the structure of the pocket and the offensive game plan.

“We’re planning otherwise”, Pettine said.

Against the Bengals, Manziel completed 15 of his 33 pass attempts in the game for 168 yards with one touchdown to running back Duke Johnson. “He’s gotten better at that. We knew it would take a few time for him to be able to adapt”.