Mike Pettine made the only choice he could at quarterback
By Thomas Moore
Sep 20, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Browns head coach Mike Pettine on the sidelines during the third quarter against the Tennessee Titans at FirstEnergy Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports
While Cleveland Browns head coach Mike Pettine holds an economics degree, he is clearly a student of history, especially as it pertains to the team’s quarterback situation.
Earlier today Pettine made the announcement that Josh McCown has been cleared to resume practicing after suffering a concussion, and that Johnny Manziel will be returning to his backup role.
Just the way the team has always intended it to be.
(“Josh has) done everything that we have asked of him in the offseason and so far this year, he had earned the right to be our starting quarterback,” Pettine said in announcing the decision. “We feel that he gives us the best opportunity to win on Sunday. That was truly the basis for the decision.
“From a coaching standpoint – I know there were a lot of exterior factors – but for us it is very bottom line. You weigh everything, you look at the game plan and you look at where we are, who has gotten what reps and how we feel about things, it was who gives us the best opportunity to win.”
“We have a plan for (Johnny), and we feel that he is headed in the right direction, but ultimately, we rolled with Josh.” – Head coach Mike Pettine
Even though Pettine said it wasn’t a factor, you have to wonder how much his decision to stick with McCown was influenced by the events of last season when, as the season started to slip, Pettine ignored the repeated calls for the Browns to start Manziel over Brian Hoyer for one simple reason – the coaching staff knew that Manziel was not ready.
Once he had no choice, Pettine turned to Manziel, only to be let down in spectacular fashion and Pettine clearly was not ready to go down that road again this early in the season.
The coaching staff is around the players more than anyone else and they know who is ready to play and who is not. Manziel is clearly in a better place than he was at the end of last season, but as Pettine pointed out today, the team is not going to rush him onto the field before he is ready.
“I am going to be a team player and do what I need to do from here on out and be ready if my number is called on Sunday, the next one or six, seven or eight weeks or whatever the case may be.” – Quarterback Johnny Manziel
“We’re not going to try to manipulate it – ‘OK, are we preparing for the future with a guy that we see right now as our backup?’ That’s not the way we do our business and that’s what I said before,” Pettine explained for what seems like umpteenth time. “Naturally, you would think the circumstances would come up where you could get that evaluation, and it already has. We’ve gotten seven quarters worth of football from him and the results have been encouraging.
“The carelessness with the ball is well documented, but he knows that, and that is something that room needs to work on, that we’ll continue to stress and coach it hard. Just the overall quarterback play, I think he’s risen to a much higher level than he was a year ago.”
Whatever it is that the coaching staff and Manziel are doing is clearly working. Manziel still has his problems on the field – just look at the fumbles and all of his stats, not just the highlights – but the improvement from last year to this year is undeniable.
And despite what Pettine’s critics will have you believe, the coach sees it as well.
“I think at the end of the day, (if) we go out and play winning football, everybody will be happy with that.” – Quarterback Josh McCown
“We were all in agreement (about starting McCown) but all felt the same way that Johnny has made a lot of strides and we have no problem with him playing football for us,” Pettine said. “We have a plan for him, and we feel that he is headed in the right direction, but ultimately, we rolled with Josh.”
So, for once, the Browns seem to have a clear plan for how they want to handle the quarterback situation, but the instant gratification crowd wants them to blow it up.
Haven’t we been down that road before and seen that it is a dead end?
This really isn’t a question of whether or not McCown is a better quarterback than Manziel, but it is more about, as Pettine said, who is better for the team right now.
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Just because McCown is the starter this week (and presumably for as long as he stays healthy) doesn’t mean that Manziel’s development has to stop. The Jets’ game showed that you never know when he will be called upon, so it is up to Manziel to stay ready.
And judging from not only the team’s history but McCown’s, it is very likely that we have not seen the last of Manziel in 2015.
Manziel’s role in this manufactured drama has also become a bit lost, especially among diehard members of the Manziel Mafia. The reality is that if Manziel hadn’t blown off his entire rookie season, he would be further along in his development and we might actually be having a legitimate discussion about Manziel being ready to take over the starter’s role.
But that is not the reality of the situation. If Manziel is not yet ready to supplant McCown as the starter, that is on Manziel, not Pettine or anyone else.
To Manziel’s credit, he is working hard to rebuild his game, along with the trust of the coaches and other players on the team. And from what we’ve seen so far, he’s succeeding.
Pettine made what some fans will deem an unpopular decision today.
But given everything that has gone on with Manziel and the quarterback situation, it was the only decision he could make.