Pettine said the conversation was positive, yet many instances in two-plus months with the team, Manziel's partying has been captured via social media and become the lead topic in Cleveland. Pat Lovell-USA TODAY Sports
Johnny Manziel is closing in on No. 1 in jersey sales, which is fine with Cleveland Browns head coach Mike Pettine. It means Manziel’s off-field behavior wasn’t a headline.
“I’ve talked to him. I don’t think I used the phrase ‘tone it down,'” Pettine told the Akron Beacon-Journal in response to ESPN’s report that the organization talked behavior issues with Manziel. “I don’t want to get into specifics of the conversation, but I’m comfortable with where we are and what we’ve talked about and I’m comfortable heading into training camp that he knows where I stand.”
Pettine said the conversation was positive, yet many instances in two-plus months with the team, Manziel’s partying has been captured via social media and become the lead topic in Cleveland. Most recently, photos of Manziel floating on a swan, poolside and Vegas and rolling money in a bathroom made headlines.
“He and I have discussed it, but I don’t want to go into details of the conversation, and I don’t want to get into commenting on individual photos,” Pettine said. “I think this should be minimal once the season starts. His history hasn’t been that he’s partying like that during the season.”
Pettine said incumbent starter Brian Hoyer is cleared for full contact and will not be limited in training camp. His timeline for naming a starter, and the exact process for dividing reps between the quarterbacks, is still being determined.
“We want to make it as open and fair a competition as we can, but you’ve got to be careful then, too,” Pettine said, “because you’ve got a guy that’s potentially your starter, and you have supporting cast issues whether that’s in a preseason game or whether you can control it a little better in practice. Then the issue that I talked about before is kind of finding that sweet spot date.”
Pettine repeated his belief that it would be better for any rookie, Manziel included, to start the season as a backup to get accustomed to the routine and process of preparation and adjustments. It doesn’t help that the NFL has yet to rule on wide receiver Josh Gordon’s appeal of a season-long suspension, but the Browns have been informed to expect word in the next 10-14 days.
“I just think the speed of it, handling all the things are that are going on, that’s when I say it’s not ideal,” Pettine said. “Now am I against it? No, because I’ve seen it work before. Mark Sanchez took us to a game away from the Super Bowl. Joe Flacco took us to a game away from the Super Bowl. So I know both work. But I think ideal circumstances is that there is a transition period. But I’m also not saying, ‘Hey, he’s going to be our starter at some point during the season.’ The task for us as a staff is easier than that. It’s who gives us the best opportunity for us to win, and that’s going to be our starting quarterback.”
The Browns will not hold the QB question all preseason, and Pettine hopes to get the news out before the third preseason game, which is traditionally a full dress rehearsal for the first-team units.
“I don’t know if I’ll set a date and kind of paint ourselves into a date, but it will be sooner than the third preseason game,” he said.
There is little doubt who the fans prefer. Manziel was second in jersey sales in the NFL for a two-month period ended July 17.
“All of the decisions, we make about football,” Pettine told NFL Network in May. “We embrace the enthusiasm. It’s something that we know will come with the territory with Johnny and we think that’s great, but he’ll be the first one to tell you that he earned [the nickname] Johnny Football as a college quarterback and he knows he has to earn it as an NFL quarterback. We’re not going to let jersey sales determine our depth chart.”
Seventh-round pick Michael Sam (St. Louis Rams) and two other rookie quarterbacks chosen in the first round were included in the jersey sales: Minnesota Vikings’ Teddy Bridgewater, the 32nd overall pick, was 13th in jersey sales. Jacksonville Jaguars’ Blake Bortles, picked overall, was 18th.
