BEREA, Ohio -- A subdued Browns coach Mike Pettine said Monday he'll likely announce Wednesday if Johnny Manziel will replace Brian Hoyer, and that he hasn't made up his mind yet.
"(I'm) not ready to make a decision on that at this point,'' he said. "I'm not leaning one way or the other, but there's a lot to consider."
Pettine acknowledged that it's a difficult decision and one he'll take very seriously. He'll make it in conjunction with his offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan, quarterbacks coach Dowell Loggains and general manager Ray Farmer. The 7-5 Browns are in the thick of a playoff hunt and will host the 8-4 Colts on Sunday. Indianapolis walloped the Redskins and Colt McCoy 49-27 Sunday.
"I don't know where I want to go, and it's certainly important,'' Pettine said. "We'll spend a lot of time on it. I'll lean on the people I trust to help make it."
Asked if he still believes in Hoyer, who's 7-5 this season but slumping over the past five games, he didn't answer directly. For his part, Hoyer said Monday "you don't get to 7-5 just lucking into it'' and feels he deserves the nod.
"As I said yesterday, I just felt we needed to make a change,'' he said. "We needed a spark. We had been listless for a good amount of time. Really two of the past three games on offense (we've) had those issues. I think the defenses had a lot to do with it.
"Atlanta, I do think that we were very confident. It was our highest yardage production output of the year, but interceptions were obviously a concern. I don't want to say that he was taken out because we lost confidence. It was a decision in-game to spark our team."
Pettine was asked what's holding him back from saying 'Hoyer's our guy.'
Browns' Brian Hoyer still confident he can get the job done Cleveland Browns quarterback Brian Hoyer says he is confident he can get the job done in the remaining four games as they make a run for the playoffs despite being benched for Johnny Manziel during the loss to the Bills. It is not yet known who will be the starter Sunday against the Colts."We believe that competition is a cornerstone of what we do,'' he said. "We do look at the body of work, but I think given the play recently at that position that it's time to discuss it....it's our normal procedure that we do week to week, and this week is no different."
Pettine admitted that this isn't the first time the staff has discussed switching to Manziel. Hoyer, 10-5 as a Brown overall, has faltered over the last three games, throwing one touchdown pass and six interceptions in that span and earning ratings of 61.2, 52.3 and 51.0. He's gone 1-for-9 in the redzone in those three outings, and his once top-10 rating has toppled to No. 27 at 79.9. He's mustered one touchdown pass in the last 15 quarters, and none in the last nine. He's last in the NFL in third-down passing.
What's more, the defense has gifted him with 17 takeaways over the past six games -- most in the NFL in that span -- and he's spun them into only three touchdowns. If not for some horrible clock management on the part of Falcons' coach Mike Smith, the Browns would likely be in the midst of a three-game tailspin with a 6-6 record and -- and virtually out of playoff contention.
"After Houston it certainly came up,'' said Pettine. "After some of the mistakes last week it came up. Just where we've been and the level of Brian's play, it's warranted discussion, but to me it's not just that one position. Anytime we're having a player not perform to our standards on a given week, it comes up for discussion.''
Pettine stressed that Manziel's involvement in a fight at his downtown apartment building in the wee hours before the Browns' flight to Atlanta the following day had nothing to do with the fact he "never considered'' using him against the Falcons, a game in which Hoyer threw three interceptions. Two of them were in the final five minutes, and Hoyer pulled out the 26-24 victory with a field goal in the final 44 seconds.He said they've addressed behavior with Manziel and everyone else on the team but that "we're not going to overdo it. As I said before, we're not going to micromanage our players outside of the building. At the same time, they know that there is a standard that they need to live up to. I think Johnny understands that certain positions should be held higher than others."He indicated that Manziel is ready for the challenge of this playoff run if called upon. After the Colts, the Browns host the first-place Bengals (8-3-1), then finish on the road at Carolina and against the 7-5 Ravens.
"His attitude and effort and energy and just overall quarterback play, it's shown steady improvement through the year,'' said Pettine. "We see a lot of him in practice week to week. We got a taste in the game of what he's capable of. We saw some of that in preseason. It's not like this is the first time we've seen him out there."He said Manziel had a couple of hiccups in his debut "but showed good energy, made some throws. I know he missed Travis (Benjamin) on the one boot. I thought the throw to (tight end Jim Dray) was in a pretty tight window, I thought Jim made a heck of a catch. I thought he was very decisive on the scramble for the touchdown.''
However, the Browns will have plenty to consider when they huddle up to make the decision over the next two days.
* Manziel would be making his starting debut against Andrew Luck and the Colts, who are first in the NFL with 31.8 points per game.
* He'd be without his starting tight end in Gary Barnidge (ribs) and clutch third-down receiver in Miles Austin, who remains hospitalized in Buffalo with a kidney injury.
* He might have to play with a third-string center in Ryan Seymour if Nick McDonald's ankle is still bothering him.
* In the hotly-contested AFC North race, every game will be a virtual elimination proposition.
But Pettine will throw anything out the window that doesn't answer his fundamental question.
"I've said it a million times, "Who gives us the best chance to win this weekend? Period,'' said Pettine. "For us involving the playoffs, we have to win and that's the bottom line. It's not like anything beyond that would influence the decision. It's that simple. It makes it easy when you look at it like that and shut out everything else."
He said he won't paint himself into a corner by saying the decision has to be his last one of the season. "We work very short term, and we're getting down to the end with four left,'' he said. "They're all huge, none more important than this one.''He also stressed that he's getting no pressure from the front office or from owner Jimmy Haslam to start Manziel. He also acknowledged that whole offense played poorly against Buffalo's fourth-ranked defense, but he ticked off Hoyer's deficiencies nonetheless.
"I felt we were stagnant and he had missed some reads and made some poor throws,'' said Pettine. "He wasn't having a very good day. I thought he rushed some throws. There were some instances throughout the game and it was just a cumulative thing. Just felt we needed to make a change."
Question is, will it be permanent?
Source: http://www.cleveland.com/browns/index.ssf/2014/12/mike_pettine_johnny_manziel_br.html
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