Browns coach hopes to name starting quarterback next week

Not that Brian Hoyer and Johnny Manziel needed any more pressure in their battle to be the Cleveland Browns’ starting quarterback, but it appears Coach Mike Pettine will name his season-opener starter as early as Tuesday so he “can cut the quarterback questions down by about 90% after next week.”

The Browns just happen to play the Redskins in Washington on Monday night in the second of their four preseason games. There has reportedly been little to separate the two quarterbacks so far, including somewhat underwhelming performances in the preseason opener last week when neither threw a touchdown pass and combined to generate only nine points in a 13-12 loss to the Detroit Lions.

“You’re looking for the total package, the quarterback who is best suited to take the field and lead us to a win against the Steelers” in the opener on Sept. 7. Pettine said. “That’s the bottom-line decision we have to make. There will be a lot of things going into it.”

Pettine said on Thursday that he was “comfortable” with Hoyer as the starter but added Friday that “all of our options are open.” The former third-string quarterback went 3-0 as a starter last season before a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee sidelined him for the year. But the first-year Browns coach has given Manziel equal time with the first-team offense recently in practice and plans to do the same Monday night against the Redskins.

“They both started camp at a certain point and they’ve both made improvement,” Pettine said. “I think they’ve both made big strides. When you look at it, I feel like we’re in a good position, we have two quarterbacks that we feel have NFL starter ability, which is why it’s a difficult decision.”

While Pettine has brought Manziel along slowly with the first-team offense in preseason, it appears that a good performance on Monday could sway the coach to install the rookie as the starter.

“Sure he can,” Pettine said of Manziel becoming the starter. “He just needs to go out and play, that’s the bottom line. They both do.”