It was an up-and-down rookie season for Johnny Manziel in Cleveland. He garnered plenty of attention off the field after being selected in the first round and spent most of the season on the bench. He flashed some brilliance when he did get a chance to play, but it was limited, and his season ended early due to a hamstring injury. Now, the Cleveland quarterback is looking ahead and said he will treat next season differently than he did this year.
Johnny Manziel vows to take role ‘a lot more seriously’
Manziel’s rookie season came to an early end due to injury, but the Browns quarterback is already looking ahead.
Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports
“It’s been a year of growing up for me,” Manziel said, via Cleveland.com. “This is a job for me now and I have to take it a lot more seriously than maybe I did at the first, still going home and whatever I was doing in the offseason.”
The 22-year-old received only spot action until Week 15, when he made his first start. He struggled as a starter, completing just 13-of-26 passes for 112 yards before injuring his hamstring in Week 16. Despite the lack of success, Manziel said it wouldn’t be fair to judge him on such a small sample of playing time.
“I don’t think it would be fair to give up on somebody after seven quarters of football,” Manziel said. “If that’s what they intended on me coming in here doing, just giving them seven quarters, giving them a couple games and then looking somewhere else, I don’t feel like that’s a lot of commitment and sticking with somebody.”
Manziel won't have to worry about that, at least according to Browns head coach Mike Pettine. He said he's "not anywhere near" the point of writing Manziel off and said Manziel would have a chance to compete for the starting job next season, according to Cleveland.com.
Manziel finished his rookie season with 175 passing yards and a rushing touchdown.
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