Mike Pettine discusses the Johnny Manziel situation
On Tuesday, Browns coach Mike Pettine confirmed that Manziel would not only be coming off the bench, he would be third on the quarterback depth chart. The first oil well was called the “Johnny Manziel-Jack Dempsey” Oil Field Number 1. “I said that trust and accountability was where we had a shortfall. This is where we had an obvious shortcoming”.
Browns offensive coordinator John DeFilippo said he supports Pettine’s decision to penalize Manziel.
“Josh McCown will be the starting quarterback on Monday Night against the Ravens”, said Pettine.
Before his chalk talk session began, Gruden spent time with The News-Herald answering an array of questions, majority about Manziel.
“This is a heavy dose of adversity”.
“It does have an impact”, Pettine said. We told him yesterday – this isn’t a dead end. This is a hurdle..
The video shows Manziel holding a bottle of champagne and partying.
Pettine was surprised by the video, but more disappointed than anything.
Pettine said he hopes Manziel has not played his last game with the Browns.
At his age, McCown could not become the quarterback the Cleveland Browns have longed for, a franchise quarterback, but he could be putting himself in position for a chance to start next season. We have a game to get ready for Monday night. Sometimes, you have to take one step backward to go four or five steps forward.
Before Glazer broke this bombshell, many pundits (this one included) were incensed at the Browns for demoting Manziel all the way to third string. “I think if you asked the Buffalo Bills when they scrimmaged against the Browns this summer, I think the Browns coaches would tell you ‘wow.’ I think the Pittsburgh Steelers brass would say, ‘That guy really is impressive'”.
Pettine announced Tuesday that Manziel had been downgraded to No. 3.
Things can change, he said. He’s got a lot of guts. We will see how he handles it. To say Johnny won’t play again this season, I’m not going to say that.
“You know there’s all kinds of people that come out, ” Manziel said Monday.
“You never want to regain a job this way”. Normally that’d be no big deal-who cares that he’s having fun during the bye week-except that Manziel went to rehab earlier this year, presumably because of a drinking problem.
“Josh McCown is our starter,” Pettine said. Not to mention he was benched week 17 last season for a similar situation, and a practice squad quarterback, Connor Shaw, ended up getting the start instead, essentially just to prove a point because Shaw had not even been in consideration to play in an National Football League game before the incident, according to USA Today. Were in this thing together..
“The improvements from last year to this year have been tremendous”, Pettine said of Manziel in a statement that day, “but he still has to consistently demonstrate that he has gained a good understanding of what it takes to be successful at the quarterback position on this level”.