The Browns named Brian Hoyer their starting quarterback for the first preseason game of the year on Wednesday, but left the door open for Johnny Manziel to get some work with the first team after spending two days this week practicing with the starters.
On Thursday, head coach Mike Pettine shut that door almost all the way. Pettine said that the plan for this week’s game against the Lions is for Hoyer to play with the first team while Manziel comes on with the second unit.
“I don’t think he will,” Pettine said, via Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal. “I think we’re going to let Brian go. The circumstances could change that, obviously, but for this game, I think we’ll stick to the units as we’ve practiced. So Brian with the ones and Johnny with the twos.”
Pettine also said that the first team may play a bit more than is usual in the first preseason game because they are running a new offense, but that should still leave Manziel with plenty of snaps to make his case for the starting job. Pettine also said that it’s possible Manziel will start against the Redskins in the second preseason game, a decision which he could sway with a strong performance on Saturday night.