Browns coach Pettine on sticking with McCown: ‘He gives us the best opportunity to win’

The Browns will start quarterback Josh McCown instead of Johnny Manziel on Sunday when they host the Oakland Raiders, the team announced Wednesday morning in a news release.

McCown was cleared to return from a concussion by an independent neurologist Wednesday morning, Browns coach Mike Pettine said. McCown will practice Wednesday as the Browns (1-1) prepare for the Raiders (1-1).

“He’s done everything that we’ve asked of him in the offseason and so far this year,” Pettine said Wednesday before practice. “He’d earned the right to be our starting quarterback, and we feel that he gives us the best opportunity to win on Sunday, and that was truly the basis for the decision.

“There was a reason we started the season with Josh as the one and Johnny as the two. That was our plan, and this point, we’re not seeing a reason to deviate from that.”

Manziel, who entered this season as McCown’s backup, will return to the bench after helping the Browns defeat the Tennessee Titans 28-14 on Sunday in the home opener at FirstEnergy Stadium. Manziel earned his first career win as a starter, improving his career record to 1-2.

“I thought Johnny did an outstanding job with his opportunity,” Pettine said. “He knows that there are some things that he needs to get cleaned up. Actually, the quarterback room knows that we need to be more protective of the football. But I’m very proud of him personally and professionally with the progress that he’s made. This is all very positive that we now feel we have a backup that come in and he’s already proven that he can move the team and make plays and win games for us.

“He’s making great strides, and if he continues to make strides, ultimately he can get where we all want him to be. But just where we are right now, we look forward to leading the offense against the Raiders on Sunday.”

Pettine said he leaned primarily on the opinions of offensive coordinator John DeFilippo and quarterbacks coach Kevin O’Connell when making the decision. Pettine said they didn’t make the decision in “15 seconds.” They spent some time on it.

“We were all in agreement but all felt the same way, that Johnny’s made a lot of strides and we have no problems with him playing football for us,” Pettine said. “But we have a plan for him, and we feel that he’s headed in the right direction. But ultimately we rolled with Josh.”

McCown, who’s 17-33 as an NFL starter, suffered the concussion Sept. 13 during the first quarter of a season-opening, 31-10 loss to the New York Jets while attempting to dive into the end zone for a touchdown. Instead of scoring, McCown fumbled to end the 17-play drive. In his lone series, McCown finished 5-of-8 passing for 49 yards. His passer rating was 79.7, and he ran three times for 23 yards.

In three quarters of relief against the Jets, Manziel completed 13-of-24 passes for 182 yards and a touchdown with an interception, posting a passer rating of 75.3. He also absorbed three sacks, lost two fumbles and ran five times for 35 yards.

McCown, 36, didn’t pass his concussion test last week, so Manziel, 22, started against the Titans and helped the Browns prevail. He completed 8-of-15 passes for 172 yards and two touchdowns bombs of 60 and 50 yards to wide receiver Travis Benjamin without an interception. He took two sacks and fumbled both times, though the Browns were fortunate to recover each one in the third quarter.

With McCown back in the starting role, is he on a leash?

“Anytime you put a guy on a leash and in the back of his mind it’s, ‘Hey, if I make one mistake, I’m out,’ I don’t think that’s any way to play,” Pettine said. “I think in most situations that becomes self-fulfilling. He’s our starting quarterback, and we’ll take the situations as they unfold. But we never talk in terms of leashes.”

Pettine said doesn’t expect the entire team to agree with the decision, but he’s confident the players “are going to be behind Josh and go out and play hard.”

Asked if the Browns will consider a package of plays for Manziel because he’s been playing well, Pettine said, “I don’t see that right now. That’s something maybe we can discuss down the road.”

Pettine believes the Browns will still be able to find out what they have in Manziel.

“Naturally you would think the circumstances would come up where you could get that evaluation, and it already has,” Pettine said. “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. That’s something that that room needs to work on. We’ll continue to stress and coach it hard. But just the overall quarterback play, I think he’s risen to a much higher level than he was a year ago.”

Pettine obviously wants to stick to the organization’s original plan, but is he torn at all about sitting the quarterback with the hot hand?

“I think that factors in a little bit, but Josh had built a volume of reps and has the experience and had had the job,” Pettine said. “We’re hopeful he’ll have a good week of prep and play well on Sunday.”

(c)2015 Akron Beacon Journal (Akron, Ohio)

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