BEREA (92.3 The Fan) – On the field it appears that veteran Brian Hoyer has a leg up on rookie Johnny Manziel in the quarterback competition.
The division of reps during team drills would seem to indicate that too.
But not in the eyes of offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan.
“I don’t think one’s any further in front than the other,” Shanahan said following Thursday’s practice. “I think they’ve both done a good job.”
Hoyer entered camp No. 1 on the depth chart and it hasn’t changed 5 practices in. The North Olmsted native and St. Ignatius grad has taken all of the first-team reps during 7 on 7, 9 on 9 and 11 on 11 work.
That’s probably why he doesn’t seem worried one bit about where the competition stands.
“There isn’t a lot of talk about that,” Hoyer said. “Until things are said to me, I approach it the same way. I’m coming out here trying to get better every day and trying to be the best quarterback I can for this team. Those decisions will be made upstairs.
“The only thing I can control is the way I come out here and play and obviously in the scrimmage and preseason game, so it’s out of my control. The things I can control is what I worry about.”
Browns offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan said Thursday there’s no leader in the quarterback competition between Brian Hoyer and Johnny Manziel. / (Photo by Daryl Ruiter CBS Cleveland)
Manziel also has other things to worry about, like mastering the playbook, pre-snap reads and showing the ability to carve up a secondary with his arm and not feet.
“I’m not worried about one or the other being ahead or anything,” Manziel said. “Right now, it’s me making sure I know what I need to know to get out here, execute and run the offense and not have any mistakes.”
While Shanahan feels that Hoyer and Manziel are pretty much even through 5 training camp practices, he is hopeful that one of them will separate from the other soon.
“I think it’s been back and forth. It’s something that I don’t try to evaluate every day,” Shanahan said. “I try to just coach both of them and get them better. Usually in my experience when you’ve been in a situation like this, it usually plays out. We’ve been in a week. Hopefully as these preseason games go, as these practices go, I hope one of them will make the decision easy on us, one will just take off and start playing really well.
“Usually the answer becomes pretty easy. If they make it tough, I hope it’s because they’re both playing really well.”
Head coach Mike Pettine would like to have a final decision made prior to the third preseason game Aug. 23 against St. Louis. Shanahan wishes the timetable was even shorter.
“I wish it could be made tomorrow, but you’ve got a rookie quarterback and you’ve got another quarterback who’s really only played in three full NFL games and they’re both learning new offenses,” Shanahan said. “When one guy has a bad practice, I don’t try to say, ‘All right, he’s back. The other guy’s way up.’ It’s early for both of them. So as small as patience as coaches tend to have, I’m fighting with myself to have more because I know it’s going to take time.
“You don’t want to just jump to a conclusion real quick. You’ve got to give them both a chance to get comfortable and to develop. I really hope we can get it done sooner than later, but it’s really going to be up to them.”
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