Cleveland Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel. Kevin Hoffman-USA TODAY Sports
The Cleveland Browns are hopeful quarterback Johnny Manziel will be able to play in Saturday’s preseason game despite a sore elbow.
Manziel did not throw at practice Monday but did not need an MRI, head coach Mike Pettine said.
“I think we have a pretty good feel that just a day’s rest will be enough,” Pettine told reporters Monday. “If it’s not, then we’ll deal with it accordingly.”
Tuesday is an off day for the Browns and Pettine said he expects Manziel to practice Wednesday and play in Saturday night against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Pettine was asked if the coaches considered changing Manziel’s throwing mechanics due to his three-quarter release.
“No I just think at this point in his career we are not going to try to change his throwing motion,” Pettine said. “I think that is advantage he has. There are times where he will change his arm angle to make a throw. If you stick with your traditional throwing motion the ball is either going to get knocked down, you have a guy in your way, you have an outstretched arm — you want to go and drop the ball down a little bit and make a throw. I think that is an advantage of his. We just have to be mindful of it and when he does get sore, shut him down.
“A lot of time you have to rely on the player to give you the feedback that this is starting to bother me. Then we can do some things from a training standpoint. If that is what made him successful, then it is something you don’t want to tinker with at this point. It is an advantage, as long as you can manage it. I can’t think of any example form around the league where a guy came in and changed his arm angle and ended up out of the league because of chronic arm soreness.”
Offensive coordinator John DeFilippo also isn’t too concerned that Manziel has any long-term elbow problem.
“Johnny’s probably got what 30 to 40 percent of the other quarterbacks in the league have right now,” DeFilippo said. “And once training camp’s over and the volume of throws goes down, usually that has a way of clearing up itself.
“You see a three-quarter release sometimes. I’m a big believer in once guys get to this level, you can help them with their lower body from the waist down. It’s really, really hard to change from the waist up. It really is. You look at the guys that have been documented in the past in terms of bad mechanics at quarterback, it kind of follows throughout their career. It’s really hard when a guy has been throwing the ball since he’s been 10 years old to change that in an offseason, especially now with the new CBA we don’t get these guys in the offseason.
“But you see him three-quarters at times and sometimes that’s a lot of pressure on the elbow and shoulder. I won’t say it’s the wrong way to throw a football, because I’ve seen a lot of successful quarterbacks throw the ball like that. That’s part of the reason why Johnny can get the ball out of his hand so fast. He has that whip release. At times that will put a lot of stress on your elbow.”
Pettine said he wants to see progress from starting quarterback Josh McCown in the third preseason game.
“To me we just want continued progress with that group, in there with the ones,” Pettine said. “Running the offense and walking off the field a better offense as a result. There is nothing that we are looking for that is magical form this game. We just want to get better. We want to walk off the field in Tampa a better football team in all positions.”
McCown, who signed with the Browns in February after he was released by the Buccaneers, was asked why he believes Pettine won’t say he is the starter for Week 1, despite saying he is firmly the number one.
“I don’t know. I don’t know,” McCown said. “Maybe in his mind there is no difference between firmly and Josh is our starting quarterback.”
McCown added it doesn’t bother him
“No, not at all,” he said.
