Mike Pettine stands by McCown over Manziel as Browns’ starting QB

Instead, EJ Manuel played the entire second half.

The Buffalo Bills defeated the Cleveland Browns by a score of 11-10 in Thursday night’s nationally-televised preseason game. But after Thursday’s game he said he is not pressing McCown and that the two do not have a hostile relationship. He doesn’t want to give the Colts any edge. “Competitive reasons, whatever. Go for it. We don’t need to tell them”.

“They did some good things, they did some bad”, Pettine said, via ESPN.com. “We may know. But why would we say any different?”

A couple of weeks ago, I suggested that Johnny Manziel be named the Cleveland Browns starter for the regular season opener.

In the fourth quarter, tied at 3, Manziel orchestrated an 11 play, 96-yard drive, capped off with a 21-yard touchdown throw to Glenville native to Shane Wynn.

“We feel good about where Johnny (Manziel) is as the No. 2 and where Josh is as the No. 1”, Pettine said. As the quarterback went to the ground to try to corral the loose ball, Lions defensive end Corey Wootton landed on Griffin.

“I am just happy to be out there and getting a lot of reps”, Manziel said. Would I like to be in there with the ones? It’s just to say that if your organization’s sole objective is to maximize the potential and ceiling of Johnny Manziel, I don’t think you can hand-pick a much better placeholder than Josh McCown.

The Browns have more than a week to get ready and healthy for their exhibition at Tampa Bay.

McCown did nothing to lock up the starting gig. After the game, this is how Manziel responded when asked about challenging for the starting spot.

McCown had X-rays after the game because his finger was jammed. He left Tuesday’s practice limping off the field helped by trainers.

New offensive coordinator John DeFilippo was without running back Duke Johnson and wide receiver Dwayne Bowe in both preseason games.

Despite the success, Manziel, who finished with 19 yards rushing, will remain behind McCown when the Browns enter their third preseason contest. He repeatedly mentioned punter Andy Lee, who has dropped most of his punts inside the 20-yard line, as a weapon he eliminated from the Browns’ arsenal because of his interceptions. He started off the night by making an eight-yard scramble on first down up the middle, than got a few first downs by handing off before the drive stalled out.

Look, we’re as happy as anyone that Manziel is slowly starting to look like a competent quarterback, one who we don’t have to fear see enter a game if something happens to McCown. Safety Jordan Poyer will have to follow concussion protocol before returning to practice …

The Buffalo Bills and Cleveland Browns will face off tonight in the NFL preseason. Both were snagged out of the air by rookie cornerback Ronald Darby.