Browns coach Mike Pettine: Johnny Manziel hasn't overtaken Brian Hoyer
Browns coach Mike Pettine is pleased with Johnny Manziel's improvement thus far in training camp, but Manziel hasn't overtaken Brian Hoyer for the starting job yet, the head coach said on a conference call on Sunday, according to Mary Kay Cabot of The Plain Dealer in Cleveland.
Pettine said there is no front-runner to start Week 1.
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"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."
Pettine also denied a report saying that Manziel has moved ahead of Hoyer on the depth chart.
"It's untrue," Pettine said.
He also refused to name a starter for next Monday's game against the Redskins in Washington, but he did acknowledge that Manziel has tightened the race.
Said Pettine: "The things where [Manziel] was behind in the spring, he's gotten a pretty firm grasp on, and as we said before, it was him versus the playbook and he's handling it well."
Manziel was 7-of-11 passing for 63 yards in Saturday night's preseason game against the Lions, and led the team with 27 rushing yards, including a 16-yard scramble on fourth-and-1. Hoyer was 6-of-14 for 92 yards.
- Chris Mascaro
