BEREA, Ohio - Given the chance Tuesday, Cleveland Browns general manager Ray Farmer did not endorse Brian Hoyer as the Browns starting quarterback next year, or even next week.
Not that Farmer planned to. Or, more importantly, that he needed to.
The Browns are busy this week preparing for their Thursday night game in Cincinnati vs. the first-place Bengals, who are 5-2-1. The Browns are 5-3, and Hoyer has been pretty good for most of those eight games. What Hoyer, Farmer and everyone else involved know, though, is that the Browns came into this season trying to shake a prolonged, messy slump that predates Hoyer's NFL entry. Until the Browns find a long-term answer at quarterback, questions about who that quarterback is or might be will always be valid. Such questions are both pressing and interesting right now for three reasons.
1. The Browns have already won as many games as they did in any of the last six seasons; the Browns trailed in the fourth quarter in four of their five wins.
2. The Browns drafted quarterback Johnny Manziel in the first round last May.
3. Hoyer is under contract through the rest of this season.
Farmer is the boss now, and he's obviously been watching closely, and no matter what happens the rest of this season Farmer is going to have a decision to make at some point.
Farmer doesn't comment on contract situations, doesn't plan to and made that clear both in what he did and didn't say Tuesday.
"We'll see what happens between now and then," is how Farmer answered a question about whether he expects both Hoyer and Manziel to be on the team next year. Asked if any other teams called about Manziel prior to last week's trade deadline, Farmer said he doesn't "kiss and tell."
There's nothing Farmer could have said to put additional pressure on Hoyer in regards to this week or any remaining game. Manziel has been on the roster since May; Hoyer wasn't named the starter until late August. Manziel has only made a pair of quick regular-season cameos; Hoyer has been busy winning.
Eventually, though, the Browns would probably like to get a longer regular-season evaluation of Manziel. That makes sense. But Farmer wouldn't say that, either.
"I would tell you that it depends upon what that opportunity looked like and what we thought we were getting out of it," Farmer said. "I want Johnny to play when Johnny is ready to play and we're comfortable with where we are at and how we want to play him, and what the total organization looks like around him.
"The (desired) result is for him to be successful for a long period of time and not just for a moment or for a flash but for an extended period of time. We're going to put together the right group, and we're going to make sure everything is in place. He's going to be ready, and we're going to be ready when he does get that opportunity."
Pressed further, Farmer said he would draft Manziel again and that he believes he can be a starter in the NFL.
"I think (it's) development as an individual," Farmer said. "I think guys get into it what they put out of it. For me, I'm excited about where our guys are. I think all along we knew (when) we drafted Johnny, we knew that we wanted him to develop and take his time. From my perspective, I would tell you that there are a lot of things that people say and people think they know that they don't. From where he's progressing and what we're asking him to do, I feel good about where he is. I feel good about where Brian is and I feel good about where the Cleveland Browns are, in regards to those two players."
Hoyer is coming off his first 300-yard game of the season. He's completing 58 percent of his passes, is averaging about 225 yards passing per game and has thrown 10 touchdowns vs. four interceptions. Farmer said that beyond the wins, he's been most impressed with Hoyer's work ethic and professionalism.
"I've always talked about guys that study it, learn it, love it, breathe it, and he's done that," Farmer said. "To his credit, he's demonstrated not only to those in the outside world but those (inside the organization) his commitment, his drive to be as good as he can be."
Just how good that is remains what many are asking as they watch. Few have as much riding on the translation of Hoyer's play than Farmer, but Farmer insisted that he sees "no challenge" in eventually deciding which quarterback the Browns will pick as the quarterback of the future.
"How long does it take to actually make a correct assessment of a (quarterback) in the National Football League? People have varying degrees as to what the answer to that question is," Farmer said. "I have my own. I won't share it, but I do understand that everybody's eager to see what's under the hood and what it looks like and what it could be.
"We'll find out in time I guess is the best answer. There are different ways to look at it. I just don't think that solving it with one play or one opportunity or one game is really the answer to anybody's long-term questions."
There were more questions. Farmer gave little in the way of revealing answers. Maybe Hoyer can answer that himself over the next eight (or more games). Or, maybe, Manziel will get to play, at least a little.
Either way, Farmer will be watching -- knowing he's being watched, too.
Follow on Twitter FSOhioZJackson
