Cleveland Browns fans, the Johnny Manziel era may not be over after all.
While Manziel opens training camp as veteran free agent Josh McCown's backup, head coach Mike Pettine said that the young quarterback could win the job based on on-field performance.
Pettine added that McCown is still the likely choice to start against the New York Jets in the season opener, but he left the door open for Johnny Manziel just a little bit.
"I don't think anything's changed," Pettine said via ESPN.com. "The repetitions will be handled that way with Josh as the 1. 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 preseason."
Pettine noted McCown's 12 years of experience versus Manziel's two career starts as a big reason why he is leaning towards the veteran.
"From an experience standpoint [McCown] is that much further ahead."
However, Pettine was impressed with Manziel's decision to spend a few days training with ESPN analyst and former Super Bowl winning head coach Jon Gruden in Tampa this offseason.
"This was vacation time for a lot of guys, so the fact that he sought out Jon and went down there and worked with him and was thinking about football, to me I see that as nothing but a positive."
