Cleveland Browns rookie Johnny Manziel will begin his NFL career on the bench. Browns coach Mike Pettine named veteran Brian Hoyer the starting quarterback less than two days after their preseason loss at Washington, a game in which Pettine questioned the effort of receiver Josh Gordon.
Two preseason games were enough to convince Pettine that Hoyer gave Cleveland the best chance to win. Pettine announced his decision Wednesday morning in a statement.
"(Hoyer) was the clear leader from the beginning," Pettine said, via ESPN. "We've maintained all along that if it was close, I would prefer to go with the more experienced player. Brian has done a great job in the meeting rooms and with his teammates on the practice field and in the locker room."
Neither quarterback shined in the pair of exhibition games, with Hoyer completing 8 of 30 passes for 108 yards in the two contests. It didn't bother Pettine, though, who reminded everybody Hoyer is still less than a year removed from tearing his ACL last season.
"I think a lot of people discount that," Pettine said. "Here's a guy coming off a season-ending knee injury. Really, these are his first, essentially, 20-25 plays of live work back from it, and he's only going to get better."
Despite relegating Manziel to the backup role, Pettine was happy with the rookie's progress.
"He's certainly made great strides," Pettine said. "We are pleased with where he is, and he has shown that he has come a long way in his ability to pick up the playbook, be coachable and lead an offense. We are confident that Johnny is going to have a great future, but we just felt that Brian still had a decided edge on him."
Pettine also separately questioned Gordon's effort in Monday's 24-23 loss at Washington, where Gordon at times appeared disinterested on the field and dropped at least one pass.
"There were a couple plays where I think - we just came out of the personnel meeting and talked about it - that we would have definitely wanted better effort," Pettine said.
Gordon is facing a year-long suspension for violating the league's drug policy. He's currently appealing the ban.
