Mike Pettine: Russell Wilson is still a second-tier National Football League quarterback

“He just needs to learn how to play the game of football”. The Browns rushed for a season-high 230 yards, Johnny Manziel threw for 270 and the Browns recorded nine sacks.

In addition to leading the Seahawks to back-to-back trips to the Super Bowl, Wilson has completed 264 of his 384 attempts for 3,289 yards and 26 touchdowns against seven interceptions.

“The medical staff has continued to treat his back”, Tomsula said.

Russell Wilson has been one bad man against opposing defenses for the surging Seattle Seahawks, but some folks struggle with the idea of ranking him among the NFL’s elite play-callers. “And we’re the people he’s going to want to take that aggression out on”. We’re going up there to compete. But he’s getting pretty darn close to it. You just go by results, this is a guy that you can tell he’s not as concerned about the numbers but the most important number is winning and he’s been one of the winningest quarterbacks in the league since he took over as a starter and that carries a lot of weight. “There’s a lot of guys that I’ve looked up to for a long time”.

“That’s something they’re very productive with each week, so our mission up front, we have to control their front four and see if we can establish the type of run game that we showed this past Sunday and give Johnny some time”.

Manziel and Wilson diverge from a style standpoint when they’re away from the field. “I think also just anticipation and knowing where guys are going to be, knowing the defenses, it’s where the studying and the preparation (pays off)”. It wasn’t until Year 4 that everything seemed to come together for the former third-round pick, who now ranks 5th behind Carson Palmer, Tom Brady, Andy Dalton and Ben Roethlisberger – and ahead of Rodgers (7th) and Brees (8th).

The extra inch-plus shouldn’t stop Manziel from looking up to Wilson.

“Would you put him put there with the guys that can transcend their supporting cast?”, Pettine said, according to ESPN.

“Sunday will certainly be a big test for us to go on the road to face a quality football team in Seattle that’s won four in a row, six of their last seven, and you add to it that they’re in their building, one of the toughest environments to play”, Pettine said prior to Wednesday’s practice.

So obviously, Pettine considers Wilson one of the NFL’s best quarterbacks, right? I love playing the game, I love my teammates, I love going out there on Sundays and playing football, but I also love practice and I love the details and I love the hard work and the studying and the passion behind that, taking notes and everything that’s involved into that. “Now a lot of that I think is a function too is he’s the ideal quarterback for what they do”.

Outside linebacker Corey Lemonier, an Auburn product, says the 49ers must keep McCarron in the pocket and pressure him.

“I think the first (thing) is the experience level”, Pettine continued.

Manziel admitted earlier in the year that he can’t always see downfield from inside the pocket, saying he has to make “faith” throws.

“This place has a ton of hype”, he said.