Johnny Manziel will need a miracle to be the Week 1 starter for the Cleveland Browns judging from recent comments made by head coach Mike Pettine during OTAs. The Browns signed Josh McCown to a three-year, $14 million contract this offseason and look like they plan on him being their guy.
"Until you feel you've found what you would call a long-term solution [at quarterback], I don't think we could have done any better than bringing in a guy like Josh McCown," Pettine said.
"To me, time will tell, but there's so much that he does behind the scenes that people just can't appreciate from everything you talk about - leadership, all the intangible stuff. He's truly a team guy. He's all about winning football games."
McCown was electric in 2013 when he replaced an injured Jay Cutler as a member of the Chicago Bears, chucking 14 touchdowns vs. just one interception in eight games (five starts).
Last season he was snapped up by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but played tug-of-war for the starting job with Mike Glennon, and played poorly during a 2-14 campaign. He threw 11 touchdowns vs. 14 picks, and lost 10 points on his completion percentage.
Still, compared to the mess at quarterback the Browns dealt with last season, McCown remains an upgrade. General manager Ray Farmer talked about McCown's personality on the field and in the locker room as another reason that the front office is behind him.
"I'll tell you that [McCown is] different than anybody I've ever been around in the National Football League," Farmer said.
"He is a special, special person. He is the right guy, in my mind, to have on this Browns team. He can lead. He can support. One of the things that's big in my life is servant leadership. You've got to part of the group to serve the group, and he's that."
Those comments might be construed as a shot fired at Manziel, who entered the league with a reputation as an attention-seeker, and made his share of headlines for flipping off an opposing sideline, and getting into an altercation with a fan in a hotel lobby.
[Ohio.com]
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