During the preseason, Johnny Manziel drew a $12,000 fine from the league for responding to taunting by Washington players by flipping them the bird.
Coach Mike Pettine doesn’t want to see more of the same from the rookie now that he’s the starting quarterback in Cleveland. Pettine said that Manziel has to expect the same kind of response from opponents that he saw in the preseason and that he has to let it roll off his back rather than issue the same kind of digital response he did during the summer.
“I guarantee that anyone who sacks him will stand over him and give the money sign,” Pettine said, via ESPN.com. “That’s the price that he has to pay for who he is and the reputation that he brings with him to the NFL. He already got a taste of it in the preseason. … When a play is over, it’s over. You have to move on to the next one.”
Manziel did a good job making light of Bengals coach Marvin Lewis’s jab about his height and a similar response to any on-field attempts to get under his skin would serve him well now and in the future because Pettine is surely right about what’s coming for a player who will get his first chance to make reality equal the hype this weekend.