If Johnny Manziel is to win the starting quarterback job for the Cleveland Browns, he’ll have to beat out a fully healthy Brian Hoyer.
According to Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal, Hoyer said Thursday he has been cleared for full participation in training camp after suffering a torn ACL last October.
“[I’ll be] practicing full go, so it’s exciting for me,” Hoyer said. “It’s something I’ve worked really hard to get back to, and I’m just looking forward to getting going.
“It feels good to know that I put the work in and now it’s time to go. You don’t think about it. You just go out and play football.”
Hoyer was mostly held out of full team drills during mini-camp in June. He was able to participate in individual drills and 7-on-7 drills, but was limited from full team drills in order to make sure no one accidentally ran into his recovering knee.
Hoyer took over the Browns starting job from Brandon Weeden in September and started three games before injuring his knee and landing on injured reserve. Cleveland won all three games Hoyer started, though Hoyer was injured early in the Browns 37-24 win over the Buffalo Bills in Week 5.
The Browns invested a first-round pick on Manziel in May and he appears to be the future at quarterback in Cleveland.
Now healthy, Hoyer will be able to put his best foot forward toward keeping Manziel behind him on the depth chart for the start of the regular season.