Browns name Austin Davis starting quarterback

The team announced it will start Austin Davis – not Manziel – against the Bengals this Sunday in a clear indication that at least some members of the Browns’ power structure are intent on teaching Manziel a lesson. The original plan for the Browns was to have Josh McCown be their starting quarterback with Johnny Manziel as the quiet backup.

McCown broke his collarbone in Monday night’s last-second loss to Baltimore, an injury that will cost him the final five games this season and re-open more quarterback chaos in Cleveland.

Manziel lost his starting job after he partied hard during the bye, was captured on video doing so and then lied to Pettine about what happened.

Pettine stressed that Davis earned the start with his performance during Sunday’s 33-27 loss to the Ravens.

While we don’t know which quarterback the Pittsburgh Steelers will face in Week 17 when they play the Cleveland Browns, we now know that it won’t be veteran Josh McCown.

This story will be updated. With Cleveland likely playing catch up with the Bengals offense, expect a ton of passes from Davis, and Benjamin will look to be the recipient of a majority of those passes.

“He is as prepared as any quarterback that I’ve been around”, Pettine said.

Davis finished 7-of-10 passing for 77 yards with one touchdown and a 125.8 passer rating in about half a quarter of play.

“I don’t want to head down this slope”, he said. From a physical standpoint, he’s got some mobility, got some arm strength to him.

At some point, Pettine might have to go back to Manziel. The Browns signed the 26-year-old Davis in September and gave him a two-year contract shortly after he arrived. “The fact of letting people down just bothers me. I don’t think it will be an issue for the other guys in the huddle”.

According to multiple reports, the Browns will bring back Terrelle Pryor as a wide receiver and he could serve as the third quarterback on the 53-man roster as well. Would you keep Manziel benched, or reinstate him as the starter?

Johnson suffered the injury in the third quarter at Levi’s Stadium.