O-H Bye Bros: Indians trade Swisher, Bourn, cash to Braves for Chris Johnson
August 7, 2015Donte Whitner, Brian Hartline, and Terrelle Pryor reflect on being back in the Horseshoe
August 8, 2015Following the Cleveland Browns Orange and Brown scrimmage at Ohio Stadium on the campus of the Ohio State University, Browns offensive tackle Joe Thomas had very kind words for Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel.
“He’s really proved to a lot of people that this is important to him and he’s ready to be an NFL starting quarterback,” said Thomas. “Playing well in the scrimmage tonight and looking like an NFL quarterback is another good step in the direction that he wants to go. He’s just earning that trust of his teammates that he’s going to need to do if he wants to be that starter. He impressed a lot of people out here tonight.”
Manziel may not have been with the first team offense Friday night, but he won over the longest-tenured Browns player and eight-time Pro Bowler. In four series, Manziel was 9-of-11 for 93 yards and two touchdowns.
Thomas, who said in early April that Manziel is “night and day” from last season, seemed to be very proud of the way the second-year quarterback has transformed himself, both on and off the field.
“We always knew he had the talent,” Thomas said. “So it was never a matter of the talent that he had. You’re starting to see the work that he put in off the field, but the commitment that he’s made in the meeting room. Studying film when he doesn’t need to be. Doing the things that a starting quarterback has to do. I think you’re seeing it now that he’s in competitive situations he’s able to let that talent go and play well. And that’s what you saw today.”
The Pro Bowl left tackle may have had kind words of the 22-year old, but Thomas confirmed that he is still in Josh McCown’s corner as well. In fact, he even said that McCown should be the starter, at least at this point.
“Josh has done so many good things that to me it’s not really a conversation about who should be the starter right now,” said Thomas.
Head coach Mike Pettine mentioned after the scrimmage that Manziel did not receive first-team reps because of all the injuries, and the fact that there just weren’t enough snaps to go around.
“It’ll happen in the preseason game, but the way we were depleted with injuries and being cautious with guys, there was just no way to do it without putting other guys at risk,” said Pettine.
Manziel seemed to be fine with Pettine’s decision and understood that he can only control his own decisions and on-the- field play.
“Like I said I was leaving that up to Pett and if I got some reps good, if I didn’t I was just going to go out and control what I could control and that was one thing that I couldn’t,” he said. “When they told me to go in, I went in and tried to handle whatever situation I got the best I could.”
Along with Thomas and Pettine, Browns owner Jimmy Haslem was also excited about Manziel’s performance in front of the 49,734 fans who filed into the Horseshoe Friday night.
“One of our coaches reminded me today he should be a college senior,” said Haslam. “He’s still 22, so he’s a young guy. I think Johnny’s starting to grow up and he’s starting to understand you’ve got to work hard, and you’ve got to get after it every day. So he’s learning to do that and he’s got to prove he can do that over a period of time. But so far, so good. He’s making good progress and he’s working hard.”
Although there may develop a competition between McCown and Manziel for the starting quarterback spot, McCown was happy for the way Manziel played in the scrimmage, especially about his “perfect drive”.
“Oh man, it was sweet,” McCown said of Manziel’s drive. “I was proud of him. He started off okay and then kind of had a lull and then that’s the thing about playing this position. You can’t create false adversity, it just has to happen.”
The starting quarterback for the regular season has yet to be officially named, although it’s been assumed that Josh McCown has the inside track for the opener, but it does seem as though Johnny Manziel has turned many heads since his rookie season, and since returning from rehab. His performance on Friday night and throughout camp so far has been impressive, so impressive that even the team’s most critical and hard to please veteran has noticed his maturation and growth both on and off the field.
2 Comments
This is reassuring, but with the old “Cleveland Caveat”: It’s still just preaseason….
You mean Joe is acting like a veteran and not bashing him every interview? Good to see.