Redskins tight finish Niles Paul tweets after season-ending injury: ‘This is

A respected veteran with a golden reputation, but not many wins on his 12-year NFL resume, McCown was signed by Cleveland as a free agent to provide stability to their quarterback position and mentor Manziel, who couldn’t control his Johnny Football persona and almost partied himself out of the league as a rookie.

McCown wrapped up his nine-play, 75-yard drive by escaping the collapsing pocket, then finding a wide-open Travis Benjamin in the right corner of the end zone for a 2-yard score.

McCown, who went just 1-10 as a starter last year with Tampa Bay, completed all five passes in his one series. His longest completion was 12 yards to Brian Hartline.

Backup quarterback Kirk Cousins took over for Griffin early in the second quarter and rallied the team at FirstEnergy Stadium, with Colt McCoy mopping up in the fourth quarter.

“Everybody’s goal as an offensive coordinator is to balance the offense”, Washington coach Jay Gruden said. Could you not have seen that middle finger go up as he jogged to sidelines and inferred that the kid was ill-prepared to quarterback an NFL team? If he’s going to turn things around, this is what it’ll look like.

The Redskins have been pleased with Griffin’s improvement in training camp under new quarterbacks coach Matt Cavanaugh, and RG III made a couple of nice throws during his brief time on the field against the Browns.

Key quote: “I have seen what we can be and know that when we have game-planned it and we have the guys out there that we are going to have out there and the backs get the proper reps leading up to the opener – I am confident”. “Thank you for all your well wishes & prayers”. But the 2012 Heisman Trophy victor stuck to his promise and skipped his signature “money” sign.

“It’s way different. This isn’t my first rodeo like it was last year”, Manziel said.

Redskins: In addition to Paul’s injury, TE Je’Ron Hall sustained a thigh injury. Logan Paulsen and Jordan Reed both have injuries.

Washington Redskins wide receiver Andre Roberts (12) catches a pass… Rookie linebacker Preston Smith, a second-round draft pick, led the team with six tackles starting in place of Ryan Kerrigan, held out as a precaution following off-season knee surgery and did well. He was subbing for an injured Joe Haden and hurt Pierre Desir. Pettine expects QB-turned-WR Terrelle Pryor to practice Saturday after being sidelined with a hamstring injury.

Manziel was 7 of 11 passing for 42 yards, pretty basic. The third-round pick from Florida was checked for a concussion. He didn’t look great at the left tackle spot-hopefully the Browns have a plan for backing up Thomas.

Redskins: The secondary lost track of Benjamin on Cleveland’s first TD. The scoring drive was aided by a defensive pass interference penalty but getting in the end zone is what McCown wanted to do.

Other than the running woes – offensively and defensively – the theme of the night was the beginning of the comebacks of Manziel and cornerback Justin Gilbert. In the first quarter, Kai Forbath hit a 33 yard field goal for the Redskins.

Coaches aren’t happy that he isn’t more intense about winning the starting job.

Meanwhile, Pettine and general manager Ray Farmer said the Ray Rice talk is premature after Browns owner Jimmy Haslam said he thinks the running back deserves another shot in the NFL. “We scored 17 points so there’s a lot of room to improve”.