Skip to main content
Advertising

News

Mike Pettine Press Conference -- August 27th

On if there is an update on QB Johnny Manziel:

"No, nothing is different from yesterday. Made the move and brought (QB) Pat Devlin in. We don't anticipate him playing Saturday. Would be more of an emergency role and then look for him to play some of the game next week."

On if Manziel is out for Saturday's game:

"Yes."

On if WR Terrelle Pryor made it through practice:

"He did. We will want to see how he will respond to it. He took a good volume. We just want to see how he responded. I will get that update from (head athletic trainer) Joe (Sheehan) in a little bit."

On if the Browns knew about Manziel's history with elbow soreness before drafting him:

"I am sure there was something in the medical reports about it, but it had been managed. I think it just got to the point where it flared up. There is no real update on that."

On if Manziel will be shut down for the entire preseason:

"Just given the short week and us not wanting to put him out there against Chicago, I could see he will be down for the next two."

On if QBs throw less at practice under the new collective bargaining agreement:

"I think it is all different. Even in the walkthrough, we still throw. A lot of it is how much are they doing during individuals. I don't know if that is fair to say. You could just say from the sheer amount of time but a lot of it depends on what they are doing pre-practice. What are they doing during the individual period? What are they doing during the specials teams period? And what are they doing during the walkthrough?"

On how RB Duke Johnson Jr. has looked:

"Duke has been great. We have gradually ramped up his reps, and he has looked good. Flip (offensive coordinator John DeFilippo) has been relieved. There are certain plays, you get to the point where you work on your basic install, but then as training starts to wind down, you have certain plays for certain guys, and we have been holding some because it was more matched to Duke's skillset. We have been able to practice. So far, so good."

On why the team brought in QB Pat Devlin, specifically:

"We had a short list. A couple other names came up. (Quarterbacks coach) Kevin O'Connell had been with him in Miami. He was the decision."

On how RB Shaun Draughn is coming along:

"We are hopeful to get at least some special teams reps from him on Saturday. He can play. He is going to have to cast it up and cover it up like a big Q-tip looking thing. We do not plan on him handling the ball, but at least he can still get out there and play some of the phases of special teams, maybe not all of them that he normally would. We just don't want the injury – just because he is a running back and we are not going to play him at running back – if he can still get out there and give us reps on teams we would like to get him out there. That is one where time goes on with him the cast can get smaller and smaller. We are hopeful by Week 1 that it will be to the point where he could handle the ball if he had to."

On what the Browns are looking for from DB Joe Haden this season:

"Joe played last year at a very high level for us. We are just looking for him to take the next step. He feels more comfortable in the system now. Anytime in Year 1 there sometimes are situations that come up that you haven't gone through throughout the year and I thought Joe played extremely well. He had a Pro Bowl season. He is not the type, for anybody that knows Joe, to get complacent. He wants to be great. He welcomes the challenge each week of us putting a lot on him. This year will be more of the same."

On if Haden and DB Tashaun Gipson will are expected to play against Tampa Bay:

"At this point I do. They both practiced close to full today, but I don't know how they responded to it. If they responded well, they will be out there."

On the severity of DB K'Waun Williams' injury:

"That is just a time thing. He has an oblique, a strained oblique. If it was the regular season, he probably could have gone, but we just don't want to make it worse in a time when we can get it to quiet down. We don't view that as anything serious. There is a chance we get him back for Chicago. If it is close or if it is 50/50, we will probably shut him down for Chicago, as well."

On if he wants the starters to experience the intermission and play into the third quarter:

"I have been a part of it both ways. We are going to meet as a staff and decide if there are certain players we want to extend into the third quarter. We will see. With some of the units, it will depend on the number of plays they get. If one side of the ball, if the play count is very lopsided offensively or defensively either way, we could make that decision in game to go ahead and extend them. We are going to tell them to be prepared, all of them, to be prepared to go into the second half, and if it happens, it happens."

On DB Charles Gaines during training camp:

"Steady improvement. He came in here and struggled early. He was having a rough go of it. To his credit, he pushed through it and has put some solid work. I want to say the last 10 days were his best 10 days at camp. He has shown us a lot and he has steadily improved."

On P Andy Lee:

"He is the first one to tell you he is not a very good preseason punter, especially after he hit the one the other night that had return ball all over it. His track, he has proven, we do not see any drop off. The ball makes a different sound when it comes off his foot. At the same time you have to be careful when you have a punter like that that your coverage units are able to cover those kicks. That is where you are looking at a (WR) Marlon Moore and (DB Johnson) Bademosi. Those are the guys we feel that can get down there and cover those kicks. You have to make sure you don't just get a guy that has a huge leg and don't invest heavily in your coverage. We feel real good about where Andy is. He is one of the better holders in the game, which is very much a hidden thing with punters. He does a nice job with both the kickers getting the ball down."

On if he has ever seen a player punt the ball that high:

"That is why he has the record of success he has. I haven't been around a punter with this big of a leg in my 10-plus years in the league."

On if Pryor is cleared to play Saturday:

"It depends on how he responded to the reps he got today. He took teams reps today and went through all of individual. He took team reps. I just don't know how – if he comes and says it is sore or if it stiffened up on him at the end then, there is a chance he doesn't go. If he handled it well because tomorrow is essentially a walkthrough – today was the last rack of full-speed plays. If somebody didn't go today, then they are likely not to go."

On if Pryor's snap count was up today:

"I think slightly it was."

On if DL Phil Taylor had any setbacks with on his knee, given he was on the bike today:

"He is just day-to-day with the tolerance of it. With guys coming off of serious injuries like that, you really leave it up to them. How does it feel? If it doesn't feel right, we are not going to force them, especially this time of year."* *

* *

On if the plan for Manziel is to try to throw next week, even if he doesn't play in the game:

"Yeah, at some point, we will make the determination. Let's see how it feels, and to me, that is a training room or doctor's decision at what point does he pick a ball up and starts throwing it again and how many times does he do it and how do we test it to make sure that we are not overdoing it, but we don't rush him back for it."

On if Manziel will be where he needs to be as the No. 2 QB if he does not play the rest of the preseason:

"You would have liked for him to get meaningful reps in the Tampa game. The plan was to get him some work, potentially in the second quarter in the Tampa game. That is obviously not going to happen now. He probably would have played a half against Chicago. You can't get those reps back. He will lose out on all that real game experience. We are very pleased at where he is currently, and if we truly felt like he needs to get out there and get these reps, this is something we could have worked through, but just felt heading into the season it is a long year. Let's go ahead and shut him down and rest it and make sure it is 100 percent once we head to New York."

On if he wanted Manziel to go up against Tampa Bay's first team defense:

"Yes."

On why that is important:

"Any team that wants to get their backup work because at some point in the season you don't want the first time he steps out there with the ones in live competition to be at that point."

* *

On if QB Johnny Manziel would have played a half against the Buccaneers, if able to play:

"Likely, likely. I hate giving quarters and halves just because if you go out – let's say I have a 14-, 15-play drive and then have another one, there's no sense going out again. It's more plays than anything else

On if Manziel fought back at all when told he would not be able to play:

"I think he upset that he's not out there. He's upset that it got to this point, but he's not going to – he didn't fight us as far as 'Hey, forget this I'm going to go out there and do it.' I think he's smart enough to realize that it's the smart thing to do."

On what Pryor has to do:

"Just do his job. Just do his job, whatever his job is on that play, do it. Do it to the best of his ability. We know he's a project. We understand that. We're not expecting him to go out there and light it up and catch 10 balls for 150 yards and two touchdowns. Just continue to get better. At the beginning to just make that decision and come into a training camp and say, 'Hey, I'm going to switch my position,' our expectations weren't real high for him by the end of training camp to be a viable player at wide out. We understand it's a process. It's just been unfortunate with the injury, the setbacks that we haven't been able to get as good of an evaluation as we wanted."

On what makes him so confident in QB Josh McCown:

"We're confident because we feel good about the roster that we put around him. Josh has proven time and time again that he's a good decision maker. He knows outside of the, to me, one play against Buffalo where he forced it, he's outstanding with the offense, understanding at the checks, the run game. A lot of our runs are checked and packaged and putting us in the right play and the right protection. Just the ability to lift the guys up around him to help them out, understanding if he senses the back is unsure of his assignment or there's a little confusion on the offensive line as far as a protection call or a guy's not getting lined up right that he has such a good sense of all of it. He's a very calming influence in the huddle. To me, he's one of 11. I know it's the most important position, but he's not going to look good if we don't play well around him, but I think that's true of any quarterback. We're very confident in Josh's ability and what he's done from the day he walked in the door here."

On OL Cameron Erving's attitude about not being a starter:

"His attitude's been great, his attitudes been great. You can tell that's one of the reasons he's here – he loves to play football, loves to be out there, smile on his face. I think he is a team guy through and through. We're very pleased with where Cam is."

* *

On if he is ready to name McCown the starting quarterback:

"(Vice president of communications) Peter (John-Baptiste), do I have to? Is there a league rule I have to name a starter Week 1? Not today. When the league says I have to name a starter, I'll name a starter. I think I've said he's the starter without saying it."

On if there is still a projection to be made about Pryor making the roster:

"Yeah, that's a decision that we have to, his skillset, could he be? It's hard to say, especially with the rules nowadays, even if he had stayed healthy and gotten every single snap, to go from a quarterback who has never played wide out a snap, to go through an NFL training camp when we have other players to get ready as well. To announce that 'Hey, the project is complete. He can do this,' I think that would've been unrealistic. It is a projection and the projection is we have less information to make that projection based on how training camp went for him."

# # #

This article has been reproduced in a new format and may be missing content or contain faulty links. Please use the Contact Us link in our site footer to report an issue.

Related Content

Advertising