Cleveland Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel is reportedly nearing the end of his time in rehab and even though he is expected to be with the team for offseason workouts, he'll be required to do much more than show up.
Manziel, last year's No. 22 overall pick, did not enjoy the rookie season many football fans had hoped to see from him. Instead, Manziel failed to beat out Brian Hoyer for the starting job in training camp and then failed to produce when giftwrapped the top spot in Week 15. Poor play from a rookie quarterback is excusable. But a poor attitude and work ethic is not.
"I think he's going to have to prove to the team that football is important and being the man, being the starting quarterback for the Cleveland Browns, is important, it is his goal, his single goal in life," left tackle Joe Thomas said via ESPNCleveland.com. "You know, I think he 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. And I think he had a lot of time to reflect, I'm guessing, after the season was over by the comments he made in the media and by his actions, checking himself into rehab....I think those were really positive steps.
"I'm hoping when he comes back in April we see a new Johnny and everybody's blown away with his commitment. And I think he's got the talent, so it's just a matter of if he commits himself to it, we can have a really good quarterback on our hands."
Although the Browns still have confidence in Manziel, they've covered their bases this offseason just in case by signing Josh McCown. Cleveland has also been linked to Sam Bradford and Marcus Mariota recently. That doesn't mean Johnny Football is out of a job, but it does mean he needs to get serious right away.
"Obviously there's some uncertainty with Johnny right now and that's why we brought in Josh," Thomas said. "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."
