BEREA, Ohio--In the first in-season debate on who will start at quarterback, Cleveland Browns head coach Mike Pettine announced Wednesday that Brian Hoyer will remain the starter for this week's game with the Indianapolis Colts over rookie Johnny Manziel.
"After thorough evaluation and talking to the staff, we feel Brian gives us the best opportunity to win on Sunday," Pettine said in a statement. "This is a football decision and those are always going to be based on what we think is best for our team. Brian has led our team to a 7-5 record.
"I'm confident that we can get the entire offense playing at the level needed to accomplish the goals we set at the beginning of the season. Those goals are still very much attainable."
Pettine re-iterated that the decision was totally football related.
"It's always going to be about football," Pettine said. "I wanted to be thorough with (the decision) and make the decision that was going to be best for the Cleveland Browns. Obviously, after weighing all the information and talking with people I trust very deeply, starting Brian gives us the best opportunity to win Sunday against the Colts."
Hoyer said when Pettine delivered the news to him, it reminded both of them of the quarterback decision during training camp.
"Obviously I'm excited," Hoyer said. "I was going to come in here and prepare the same way I have the entire year. When Coach Pettine told me the news, it was back to business as usual.
"We both kind of joked that it was kind of like 'déjà vu'," Hoyer said. "He just said he was sticking with me."
Hoyer admitted he's had a few anxious moments since Monday.
"Obviously, they weren't the easiest days of my life, that's for sure, " Hoyer said. "But I've been through a lot and adversity makes you stronger."
Manziel said he was disappointed with the decision, but trusts Pettine and the staff.
"Any time you get a chance (to play)," Manziel said. "Being competitive, there's some disappointment, but I trust Coach Pettine and am back to doing my job like I've done the past 14 weeks."
Manziel said if and when he gets another chance he hopes to leave no doubt who will play moving forward.
"I want to be competitive in even practice and show that my mood hasn't changed and I'm not taking this lightly," Manziel said. "All it is going to do (for me) is use it to motivate me to come in here every day to practice and try and elevate my game where next time there's a situation like this maybe there's no doubt (who should play)."
Pettine said he's not concerned that the fans might not be very patient on Sunday at FirstEnergy Stadium if Hoyer gets off to a slow start.
"I think the Dawg Pound is happiest when we're winning," Pettine said.
Pettine said that he doesn't envision having Hoyer on a short leash.
"That's tough because you don't want to dwell or get into hypothetical negative situations," Pettine said. "The reason he was named the starter is we are confident he can lead us to a win. Those decisions will present themselves, if need be, but I'm not going to sit and put any more pressure on the situation as it is, saying if it doesn't go well, we'll make a move. He's our starter going into this game and we feel he gives us the best chance to win."
Pettine said, when the dust settled, Hoyer's experience was the deciding factor.
"The fact that he'd been in there," Pettine said. "He was a part of our success. It wasn't perfect and he's made his share of mistakes but he's gotten the lion share of reps in practice and virtually all of them in games and has us in the thick of the playoff hunt and that to me, is probably the biggest determining factor."
Pettine said there's one reason he and his staff believe Hoyer will be able to bounce back this week.
"Confidence in his preparation," Pettine said. "Knowing that we're going to get the guys around him playing better and that we're going to get Brian playing better. He knows there are some things he needs to work on and I think he's shown the ability to be able to bounce back from things that happened negatively in the past...In the Atlanta game, he was able to bounce back and we're confident he will be able to do it this week."
Hoyer was asked why he thinks he will be able to bounce back this week.
"Because we've done it before."
Hoyer was asked what needs to be done for him to be as effective as he was earlier in the season.
"Just get back to the basics and obviously, I have to play better, but doing what we do best," he said. "For me, I have to get back to the basics, just do my job, don't try to do someone else's job. Sometimes, you try to make bigger plays and sometimes you have to play within the system and go back to the basics."
Pettine was asked if Manziel has shown on the practice field that he can handle the starting job.
"He has, but just the fact that he hasn't had the lion's share of practice reps and game reps and just given where we are in the time of the season where we've shown how effective we can be offensively, you almost look at it as a risk/reward situation and there's a lot of unknown there," Pettine said. "We know that we've been effective, offensively, at times, and we're hopeful we can get back to those times when we were efficient moving the ball and eating up the clock and scoring points, but that just doesn't fall on the quarterback. It's a challenge and I threw it out to the team today, that we need to play better across the board, especially offensively, to get to where we want to be."
Pettine admitted the decision to go with Hoyer was close.
"It was close and it was difficult because of how (Manziel) played, but we arrived at the decision to continue with Brian."
Hoyer was benched during the fourth quarter of last Sunday's loss to the Buffalo Bills and Pettine left the door open that a change might be made to Manziel for this week's game.
Manziel entered the Bills game with 12:01 to play in the fourth quarter with the Browns trailing 20-3 and led the team 80 yards for a touchdown, including a 10-yard run for the score. Manziel finished 5-of-8 for 63 yards (62.5 pct.), including two rushes for 13 yards. His rating was 87.0.
Pettine said there was no question that Manziel gave the offense a shot in the arm last week.
"He did provide a spark, but it was a team with a significant lead and they were calling defense that was more bend and don't break and there was the surprise factor," Pettine said.
Pettine said the series-of-plays package for Manziel is very much in play.
"It's something we keep alive," he said. "I think it's something that's fair to say has become more of a discussion in the last two days to have that there and available if it calls for it in game."
Manziel says he will stay ready, if called upon.
"I need to continue to prepare like I have every week," now that I've broken the ice of getting in and if I get thrown in there again, I have to be ready."
Manziel said he feels he's ready to play.
"I see myself progressing as the year goes on," he said. "The terminology is becoming second nature."
Colts coach Chuck Pagano said the Colts will be prepared for both Hoyer and Manziel.
"We were going to prepare accordingly," Pagano said. "(Hoyer's) received the lion's share of the reps. We're preparing for a very, very good well-coached football team."
Pagano was asked what Manziel brings to the game.
"The same thing we saw when he came out of college," Pagano said. "He's a playmaker and one of the best improvisers in the game. He's a guy that can create. We will plan accordingly and we're planning on seeing him."
In the last three games, Hoyer has thrown just one touchdown and six interceptions, while completing just 61 passes in 120 attempts (50.8 pct.). On the season, Hoyer is 232-of-395 (56.2 pct.) for 3,056 yards with 11 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.
Hoyer's quarterback rating is 79.1, 27th in the NFL. He is ranked 32nd of 39 quarterbacks with a 70.3 rating in the fourth quarter.
FOX Sports' Jay Glazer first reported the decision a little over an hour before Pettine made the announcement.
#Scoopage: The Manziel Era is NOT beginning in Cleveland yet as Brian Hoyer has been informed he will start this weekend vs Indy
— Jay Glazer (@JayGlazer) December 3, 2014
In the end, Pettine said the staff agreed to stick with Hoyer this week.
"We had lively discussions with the staff, but at the end of the day, we all agreed it was the direction to go."
