The Cleveland Browns have named Johnny Manziel as the starting quarterback for the remainder of the season, a move that was first reported by Jay Glazer of Fox Sports.
This decision by Mike Pettine and his coaching staff comes on the heels of arguably Manziel’s best NFL performance to date. On Sunday, he completed 33-of-45 passes for a career-high 372 yards, a touchdown and an interception.
“He showed significant progress,” Pettine said Monday, per ESPN.com. “That was one of the better quarterback performances.”
“He was loose. He was into it,” Pettine continued. “I thought he did an outstanding job in between series, getting input from the quarterbacks and (offensive coordinator John DeFilippo) and on the headset with (quarterbacks coach) Kevin (O’Connell). I just thought the improvement he made from the Cincinnati game to this one was a leap.”
The 2012 Heisman Trophy winner, Manziel finally has his chance to be a permanent starter, not an interim one where the coach makes a decision between him and Josh McCown on a week-to-week basis.
“It’s a great opportunity for me,” Manziel said per ESPN.com. “I was a little caught off-guard, just watching film this morning and Coach Pettine kind of came in and grabbed me. I was very excited.”
The Browns, who are currently mired in a five-game losing streak, have a bye week this week before hosting the Baltimore Ravens on November 30.
