Browns coach Mike Pettine said Monday on 92.3 The Fan in Cleveland that Josh McCown will begin training camp as the starting quarterback.
So where does that leave Johnny Manziel? On the bench, at least for now.
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Pettine said Manziel will get the chance to prove himself but cautioned the second-year quarterback needs patience above all else at this point.
"We invested a first-round pick on a quarterback last year, and a lot of people expect us to bail on Johnny after one season," Pettine said. "But it’s on us as coaches to win with what people perceive as a less-than-stellar quarterback situation.
“With so many college programs running the spread (offense), it becomes that much harder to find a quarterback that’s NFL ready, so the league is at a crossroads and will either have to go to the spread or draft guys that are going to be bridge quarterbacks."
Pettine went on to say the quarterback position might be the most important in all of sports, but mentioned most successful quarterbacks haven't had to do it on their own. Placing McCown in a starting role to begin camp puts less pressure on Manziel and the Browns in a better position to succeed, Pettine said.
“Josh has proven that in the right circumstances he can be successful," he said. "We look at last year and think a lot of things were outside of his control. When you build the team right, it minimizes the quarterback's importance."
As for the draft, Pettine said the Browns did not make a strong play for Marcus Mariota after finding out his lofty price tag.
“We did not, we did not," Pettine said when asked if the Browns pushed for Mariota. "We knew what the price tag would be, and viewed it as reckless to spend that much on one player.”