It's only April, so it may be premature to say Johnny Manziel is a changed man, but a well-respected teammate says he is a changing man.
NFL.com reported on an interview that eight-time Pro Bowl left tackle Joe Thomas conducted an interview with NFL Media's Andrea Kremer and talked about the in-progress transformation by their 2014 first-round draft choice.
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Thomas talked about Manziel missing meetings and practice toward the end of last season.
"It's just little things, and when you're a quarterback, it's the little things that are the most important," Thomas said. "I think those were the things that were apparent by the end of the year."
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But Thomas said that Manziel must have realized the error of his ways and so far has made all the right moves in getting back in his team's good graces.
"I think he saw them in himself, based on the things that he said right after the season and the steps and the actions that he took in January and February and March," Thomas said. "And to see the guy that's in the building right now is night and day from where he was last year in his commitment, and he's got a bright future ahead of him."
It was only three weeks ago that Thomas spoke about Manziel needing to win back his teammates after his 2014 failure.
"Obviously there's some uncertainty with Johnny right now and that's why we brought in Josh (McCown)," Thomas said in another NFL.com report. "He's a guy that if he's asked to carry the flag this year, he's going to do a great job. There's a chance we draft somebody or there's a chance Johnny comes back and he's a new person and he's rededicated to football, and he turns into the great quarterback that we expected when we drafted him in the first round."
Thomas added: "You know, I think (Manziel) lost probably a lot of trust among the guys on the team last year by the way he handled himself once he became the starter."
Thomas said Manziel is now at the team's practice facility studying video, whereas last year after the Browns drafted him, he was riding "a swan in a swimming pool drinking champagne.
"... He's already impressed a lot of people here now in the last couple of weeks."
The question is whether Manziel is too late to save his career in Cleveland. That question could be answered as soon as the first round of the draft if the Browns move up to take Marcus Mariota.
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