Johnny Manziel gained a lot of attention Thursday night after throwing his first career NFL touchdown pass to cap off a 96-yard drive, despite losing 11-10 to the Buffalo Bills.
In his second preseason game of 2015, Manziel connected with rookie receiver Shane Wynn on a fade to the right corner of the endzone for a 21-yard TD pass to claim the lead at 10-3.
The drive lasted just over 5 minutes, and a 37-yard completion to Darius Jennings on a play action boot leg set up the touchdown two plays later.
The former A&M quarterback finished the night 10-for-18 for 118 yards and 1 TD, possibly closing the gap on starting quarterback Josh McCown, who finished 7-for-10 for 57 yards and 2 INTs.
Head coach Mike Pettine reassured the media after the game that McCown was still the starter, and added that there was a staggering difference between the starting defense McCown faced and the second defense Manziel faced. However, McCown injured a finger and had X-rays after the loss.
“I don’t know exactly when it happened,” McCown said to the media after the game. “I just know it was sore. And so like I said we just took some precautionary pictures of it to make sure it’s all right. I don’t want to speculate moving forward. Something could change overnight, but I feel like it’s fine. So, we’ll see.”
After McCown struggled to reach the endzone in his first half of action, Manziel had his chance with an entire second half. Once Bills quarterback E.J. Manuel pieced together a touchdown drive and 2-point conversion to give Buffalo the lead, Manziel had his chance to win the game with 1:31 on the clock. Despite failing to win the game in the closing minute, Manziel said he was pleased with his performance but doesn’t know if it’s enough to make coach Pettine reconsider.
“That’s still up to ‘Pet’ and I’m just doing what I’m told,” Manziel said to ESPN’s Liza Salters after the game. “Coming out here and getting the most out of the reps I’m getting, you know, I was very happy and very thankful today to get the whole second half. So, [I need to] build on this and go into another preseason game. We got two more left and all I can really do is take care of myself and continue to try to play at a good level.”
The Cleveland Browns will travel to Florida next Saturday to take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
