BEREA, Ohio -- Johnny Manziel was doing what he enjoys doing -- throwing touchdown passes and celebrating.
Manziel was throwing passes to youngsters at the Play 60 event on the Browns practice fields in Berea and high fiving the kids as they scored touchdowns.
During a break in the NFL rookie symposium's Play 60 initiative in Berea Friday, Manziel was asked if he expects and wants to be the Browns starting quarterback this season.
"Absolutely. I want to play," Manziel said. "Anybody that's been a starter in the past wants to play. Obviously, I'm very competitive and I remember my red-shirt year (at Texas A&M). I didn't play. It's tough to sit there, but at the same time there's a lot of knowledge I learned from Ryan Tannehill, so will it be the end of the world if that's not the case? No, I think you take it in stride and learn from your situation and you make the most of the situation that you're in. But to say I don't want to be the starter would be ridiculous. I absolutely want to start. That's my goal and hopefully I can achieve that, but if not, it's not the end of the world."
Mike Pettine said at the end of minicamp that Brian Hoyer was ahead of Manziel in the quarterback situation, but Hoyer's lead wasn't insurmountable. Manziel agreed with Pettine's assessment.
"I'm still learning," Manziel said. "(The coaches) know that. It's hard coming in as a rookie coming from a system that I had, a very simple system to a complex NFL system. You look like a guy like Brian, who has been in the league six or seven years with the Patriots and they're very regimented and on top of their stuff and you can tell guys that come out of there are on top of their stuff.
"I look at it more as what I can learn from him, from a routine system from a knowledge standpoint of where I want to get to," he said. " It takes time and I think when camp starts I will have a better grasp of the playbook. It won't feel like I'm brand new to everything. But still I think everything that coach Pettine said was spot on, that Brian is obviously ahead. He's been doing this a lot longer than I have. I'm a rookie and I have a lot of ground to catch up."
At the conclusion of the symposium, the players will be off until rookies need to report before training camp begins July 25. Manziel said he will continue to prepare himself for the upcoming season, whether he is at his home in Texas or doing promotional work in San Diego.
"I still have work to do."
