Pettine: Manziel, Hoyer to split first-team reps in next preseason game

Cleveland Browns coach Mike Pettine said quarterbacks Johnny Manziel and Brian Hoyer will split repetitions with the first team in Monday night's preseason game at Washington, according to a report from Mark Kay Cabot of The Plain Dealer in Cleveland.

Pettine also said he would name the starter for the game on Thursday, and he has not decided how he will split the first-team reps, but that alternating quarterbacks by series is a possibility.

"The bottom line coming out of the game is that they both should get close to equal reps with the ones no matter who starts,'' said Pettine.

"Johnny's going to get reps with the ones,'' he said. "Just to me, the factor of starting the game I think is a little bit overblown in this situation because we're going to try to balance the reps with the ones in the game, so I don't think it was anything that, Brian came in ahead. It's a little overrated who trots out there for the first time.''

On Monday, Hoyer, who was listed as the Browns' first-team quarterback when the team released its first depth chart  last week, said the Browns are "my team until someone else tells me otherwise."

In Saturday night's preseason opener against Detroit, Hoyer completed 6 of 14 pass attempts for 92 yards, while Manziel went 7-of-11 for 63 yards and added 27 yards on the ground.

More: Johnny Preseason

In a conference call with reporters on Sunday, coach Mike Pettine addressed the quarterback competition between Hoyer and Manziel.

Pettine denied an ESPN report saying that Manziel has moved ahead of Hoyer on the depth chart and said there was no front-runner to start the team's Sept. 7 regular-season opener at Pittsburgh.

"To me, if there was a clear-cut favorite at this point, it would probably mean that one of them wasn't playing very well,'' Pettine said. "And it's a good problem, having two guys that we think are both capable of being NFL starters.''

Hoyer, 28, threw for 615 yards, five touchdowns and three interceptions over three starts with the Browns last season before tearing his ACL. 

Cleveland selected Manziel with the No. 22 pick in this year's draft. The 21-year-old won the Heisman Trophy in his redshirt freshman season at Texas A&M in 2012.

The Browns went 4-12 and finished in last place in the AFC North last season.

- Chris Johnson