This week has made it clear that it isn’t too soon to wonder whether Johnny Football will ever make it in the NFL.
To wonder if he’s just Tim Tebow with a better arm and a much worse attitude.
The Browns couldn’t have made it any easier for Johnny Manziel to win the starting quarterback job, and he basically responded by giving that chance a flip of his middle finger.
Failure to launch for Manziel was confirmed Wednesday morning, when new Browns coach Mike Pettine — a former Jets defensive coordinator under Rex Ryan — announced, almost grudgingly, Brian Hoyer had won the role.
The fact Hoyer did so after completing just two of six passes for 16 yards in Monday night’s preseason loss to the Redskins spoke volumes about what Pettine and his staff think of Manziel’s readiness.
Though fellow rookie quarterbacks Blake Bortles and Teddy Bridgewater already look like polished pros (especially Bortles), Manziel couldn’t even beat out a career backup in Hoyer who is coming off reconstructive knee surgery and has started just four NFL games.
The immobile Hoyer is what’s known in the league as “Just A Guy,” yet the only memorable thing Manziel did in his pursuit of the job was flip off the Redskins’ bench in the third quarter Monday night.
Manziel hasn’t even been the best former SEC quarterback in the Browns camp this summer. That honor goes to undrafted free agent Connor Shaw from South Carolina, who was 8-for-9 for 123 yards and a touchdown against Washington’s scrubs Monday night.
Even in Cleveland, where sad quarterbacking has become an art form since the Browns returned in 1999, this has to be depressing.
Is Manziel another wasted first-round quarterback pick by Cleveland? The next Tim Couch or Brandon Weeden?
Red flags already are flapping furiously. They started with Manziel’s non-stop partying in the offseason, and the middle-finger flip only made it worse.
If Manziel couldn’t handle trash talk from maybe 40,000 fans in a preseason game against the lowly Redskins, one only can imagine how he would react to Pittsburgh or Baltimore or Philadelphia when the final scores count.
And let’s not even dwell on Manziel — despite winning the Heisman in college and practically keeping TMZ in business with his off-field antics — thinking he could get away with an obscene gesture in front of the roughly 478 cameras ESPN uses for “Monday Night Football.”
Manziel’s comments Wednesday in reaction to Pettine’s decision didn’t exactly make him sound like a fighter, either.
“I didn’t necessarily feel like I was ready, and I felt like there were steps that I needed to take and I need to take to move forward and get better,” Manziel told reporters. “I wouldn’t say [losing the job] necessarily lights a fire. It’s disappointing. Obviously I didn’t want this to be the outcome. Down the road as the weeks continue to go on, I’ll get better, so does it light a fire? I don’t really know if it does or not.”
Wow. So inspiring.
The jury remains out on Manziel, of course. And it probably is a safe bet he will end up starting at some point this season, considering Hoyer’s injury history and lack of elusiveness.
Manziel still can be the compelling, play-making star he was in college as a pro, but the early returns aren’t encouraging.