After LeBron James announced he’d be returning to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday, Browns quarterback Brian Hoyer tweeted that he appreciated that James wrote that “everything is earned” for athletes in Northeast Ohio.
It wasn’t hard to see why such a thought would resonate with Hoyer, who is trying to remain ahead of Johnny Manziel as the starter in Cleveland. On Saturday, Hoyer again mentioned James when told Daryl Ruiter of 92.3 The Fan that he’s not looking for “anything to be handed to me” and that he’s looking forward to competing against Manziel. He also said that he hasn’t been paying attention to any of Manziel’s off-field exploits.
“Not really. I’m not really focused on my teammates, what they do in their off life so that’s none of my business,” Hoyer said. “They can make those decisions on their own. All that matters is that we come back ready to go for the season.”
Hoyer said his knee is totally healthy after last year’s torn ACL and that he’s been throwing to Browns receivers Andrew Hawkins and Charles Johnson during the time off before training camp in order to be as sharp as possible when his competition with Manziel heats up later this month. He’ll need to be to remain on top of the depth chart and it’s clear that Hoyer isn’t taking that spot for granted.