Anything Johnny Manziel does is going to make news. He’s the Kardashian of the NFL: he’s famous for being famous.
So when Cleveland Browns head coach Mike Pettine opens the door and says Manziel isn’t out of the race to be the team’s starter on opening day, he is doing a disservice to everyone involved — including Johnny Football. It may seem to be an innocuous statement that on its head is just stating the obvious, but it’s actually fanning a dying flame.
Pettine fumbled his way through an answer on Monday where he didn’t commit to either starter with any sort of conviction.
"I wouldn’t say I’m guaranteeing today that Josh McCown is going to be the starter against the Jets. A lot can happen in a pre-season. If guys are getting the two’s reps and all of a sudden they’re playing really well and the guy with the starters, you’re maybe not pleased with."
Instead of just stop talking, as he should of, Pettine went on: “At all positions, it’s a fluid situation. But for now, if we had a game this weekend, he’d be the starter, but I’m not going to commit beyond that."
So if it is fluid at all positions why address it a month and a half before you play for real?
Yet, Pettine couldn’t help himself going on to say, “I wouldn’t rule it out (Manziel starting), but if I had to say ‘will Josh McCown likely be our Day 1 starter’ to answer that question, I would say he would likely be, but I don’t want to say he is," claimed Pettine. "I don’t want to guarantee it."
When dealing with your quarterback situation nothing is innocuous. This isn’t like saying a left tackle or safety can push for snaps if he plays well. Everyone’s favourite story is a quarterback controversy, and when you add the TMZ aspect to all-things Manziel, Pettine’s comments go from a throw-away answer in a casual scrum to the front page of every sports website in North America. Pettine was either oddly calculated with these comments or overly cavalier. Either way it was a misstep.
The message to Manziel was to focus on football and eliminate distractions. This summer the following were headlines surrounding Manziel: that LeBron’s friend is mentoring him, that he is moving out of the suburbs to downtown, that he was heckled for two hours at the Byron Nelson Classic, his stint at rehab, his meeting with Jim brown, his workout sessions with Jon Gruden, and most recently that fans are still clamouring to get his autograph. Now instead of settling in and learning a new offence with no real pressure or expectations, a new story surrounds the 22-year-old.
Instead of focusing on becoming a competent professional, Manziel now shifts his focus on competing for the top spot.
Which underscores Manziel’s grooming — or lack thereof — since becoming a Brown and is part of the reason he has yet to succeed. There is a reason coaches like Bill Belichick attack the media with a boring “nothing to see here” narrative; because ultimately anything else is a distraction and when it comes time to fill out the lineup, the best players will play all the time at all positions. So giving constant updates on the rat race for playing time doesn’t further anybody’s cause.
There have been rumours about the Browns front office being split on drafting Manziel, comments about him by owner Jimmy Haslam, and having him faceoff with hometown hero Brian Hoyer last year was not a soft place to land. A young quarterback needs to be put in an incubator of support (see Seattle and Indianapolis) not a non-stop reality show (see Washington and Cleveland).
In his mind, maybe Pettine thought that his words were supposed to be a vote of confidence. If so, at the same time isn’t that a shot at his starter?
The Browns signed McCown in March as a mentor to Manziel, but now they’ve been pit against each other. This lessens McCown’s motivation to help the young kid when his own job is in jeopardy and adds an odd dynamic in the quarterback room.
Following a brutal rookie season that ended with the Heisman winner on injured reserve, Manziel checked himself into a drug rehab facility in February. What he would have learned there is that incumbent to beginning the healing process is owning your mistakes. Pettine as a young coach needs to learn from his broadcasting blunder.
The Browns have mismanaged Manziel ever since they traded back in the draft to get him. They told him to fit in and know his role but at the same time based all their promotional material around him. They didn’t give him the starting job out of training camp last year even though he out-played Hoyer and then gave it to him in a rush to end the season when Hoyer struggled. Now, after vowing to take the slow and steady approach, they’ve added a level of intrigue without any provocation.
The best quarterback will play for the Browns on opening day and it may very well be Johnny Manziel. However, it won’t be thanks to Pettine’s comments this week.
If anything it will be despite them.