Johnny Manziel did some Johnny Manziel things last night for the Browns.
Which is making head coach Mike Pettine think about ways to involve his backup quarterback next week in Pittsburgh.
“It’s something we’ll discuss,’' Pettine said, via Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. “I don’t know if that’s necessarily something just because of tonight. We’ll have discussions on how we want to game plan and how we want to use those guys. I think one of the reasons that Brian [Hoyer] and the first team did look better tonight is because we didn’t mix the reps and he got all the reps with the No. 1’s. A big part of tonight was getting those guys playing together and getting that cohesion.”
Hoyer authored a steady 13-play touchdown drive in his one chance to play, but Manziel came through with some highlight plays.
He was 6-of-17 passing for 83 yards and a touchdown, missing a number of open receivers and getting a few others drilled. But he also ran for 55 yards on four carries, and was able to improvise enough to move the offense, getting a pair of field goals and a touchdown in five drives.
“He did [make some big plays],’' Pettine said. “I think he had a couple of drops too, so I don’t think his numbers ended up what they maybe should have been. That’s who he is. Somebody said on the sideline, ‘There’s Johnny being Johnny.’ There was one play where it was ‘no, no, no, yes, yes, yes’ -- and that was just typical of his playmaking ability.’'
That’s what the Browns drafted, and that’s what they need to figure out how to use, for good or for ill.