Eye Cue DA COLI GAWD
<--- Cleveland Browns winning that many, boi!
Beg your average QB to not make your organization look stupid for drafting you brehs
WHITE PRIVILEGE .... no one has personified this adage more than Manziel.
Mike Pettine admits 'there are problems' with Johnny Manziel that need to be addressed in offseason
WHITE PRIVILEGE .... no one has personified this adage more than Manziel.
BEREA, Ohio -- Mike Pettine admitted Thursday that Johnny Manziel needs to address his off-the-field issues again if he wants to be the Browns' quarterback of the future.
Manziel, who's been ruled out of Sunday's finale against the Steelers with his concussion, has been videotaped drinking on a regular basis, including on Christmas Eve. It's a major issue for the Browns considering Manziel spent 73 days in inpatient addiction-rehab center in the offseason.
"Here is a guy that has an NFL skill set, he's very talented, if you spend some time with him, he's a likable guy, you root for him,'' said Pettine. "But there are problems there that we'll talk as we're headed to the offseason about getting addressed. And I've said this before, we want to make sure that all of our players are in good shape as people first, players second. Because I don't think you can be as effective as you can be as a player if things aren't right off the field. And he's a good example of that.''
Pettine still plans to talk to Manziel about the Christmas Eve partying video that surfaced on Sunday, but the issues run deeper than that. Sources said the Browns have become increasingly concerned the past couple of months about Manziel's slide back to his old behaviors.
But Pettine said the team can't force Manziel to do certain things in the offseason.
"I don't think we can really mandate it, but there can be strong suggestions as far as how he handles it,'' said Pettine. "But by the rules of the league, we can't [say], 'Hey, you need to come in here and meet with Kevin O'Connell three times a week.' It's against the rules. You can't do that. You've got to be able to send him off with a plan and check in every so often, and when the desire is there to want to get it changed and want to be better, hopefully you'll have a good result."
As for whether or not the Browns can make Manziel an ultimatum to go back to rehab, Pettine said, "No, that's a personal thing. I'm not going to get into it."
He said Manziel's issues haven't dragged down the team.
"I don't look at it that way,'' he said. "It's one of the challenges of coaching. Every year that I've been in the league, there's drama on every football team. It varies in scope, and the amount of it. But I don't see it that way. I see it as it's a challenge to us as coaches.''
Pettine said Manziel has shown on the field that he can be the quarterback of the future"but we always talk in terms of long-term sustained success and that's what you want to strive for. If things aren't right off the field, that's very difficult to have that level of consistency, especially when you're in a position of leadership."
So, have the Browns acknowledged that they might have to use their top pick on a new franchise quarterback? They'll likely end up with the No. 1 or No. 2 overall pick.
"I haven't really started to even really think about that,'' said Pettine, who still doesn't even know if he'll be back. "We just want to find a way to get through this week. We feel like we have a good plan for Pittsburgh on both sides, and that's where our focus is. As we wind it down, obviously, we'll start to look forward, but we have plenty of time once the seasons over to do that type of analysis."
Offensive coordinator John DeFilippo said he still believes Manziel can be the Browns' quarterback of the future, and that he'll approach it that way unless someone tells him otherwise.
"The way I am approaching this offseason is that we are going to be full speed ahead with Johnny Manziel,'' he said.
But he acknowledged that Manziel must behave professionally off the field to make this work.
"It is tremendously important, not only for on the field but I think your teammates need to see you doing the right thing as well,'' he said. "That's part of the position. It's a lifestyle. I have talked about that a bunch.
"Playing quarterback in this league is a lifestyle. You need to eat, sleep and breathe football. We have made strides in that department. I don't want to say we are there all the way, but I think we could all agree in this room that we have made strides in that department with the young man and he will continue to get better."
He said he's seen enough of Manziel to make a good evaluation.
"We've seen the good and sometimes the not so good,'' he said. "To me, from where he was from a year ago, I think there was a lot more good than not good. To me, that is progress. I think he's bought in. Like I said, I think he has bought into what Kevin (O'Connell) and I are telling him. We're just going to keep working with him.''
Cornerback Joe Haden, one of the Manziel's best friends on the team, said he'll do whatever he can to help Manziel in the offseason.
"I really, really, really want the best for him,'' said Haden. "With the off the field stuff, you have to be able to know who you are, what your situation is and a lot of the times, Johnny is doing anything too bad, but when you are a quarterback, it's unfair how you get treated some times.''
He noted that the scrutiny comes with territory.
"You are the face of the franchise, you are a professional quarterback in the league and sometimes it might not be fair the way you are treated, even when you think you are doing normal things that everyone is doing, but you are held to a different standard,'' said Haden. "I love Johnny, but he has to realize that he is not everyone else."
Mike Pettine admits 'there are problems' with Johnny Manziel that need to be addressed in offseason
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browns struggling once again