NFL preseason 2014: Johnny Manziel, Jadeveon Clowney make their NFL debuts

Here are the details for tuning in Friday night:

Where: CenturyLink Field, Seattle

When: 10 p.m. ET

TV: NFL Network; 506Sports.com for local coverage

Radio: 710 AM (Seattle), 105.3 FM (San Diego)

Online streaming: NFL Preseason Live (subscription required)

“We’ll keep evaluating it,” Bradley told Ryan O’Halloran of the Florida Times-Union. “We’ll see how it progresses -- we’ll see how the fourth game goes. It could happen earlier, depending on how things go.”

Here are the details for tuning in:

The Jaguars’ plan coming into the preseason was simple: don’t give Blake Bortles first-team reps until the fourth game and prepare him for being Chad Henne’s backup in 2014. But the No. 3 overall pick flipped the script with his 7-of-11, 117-yard performance against Tampa Bay last week. That prompted Gus Bradley to publicly consider handing Bortles more snaps with the first team. Who knows, another strong performance could have Bradley mulling a Week 1 start.

Jacksonville’s other star rookie, second-round wide receiver Marqise Lee, didn’t get the same opportunity to impress last week. Despite playing extensively with the ones, he didn’t get a single target. Look for Bradley to try to get Lee involved against Chicago.

Apparently, “individual-plus” means taking part in seven-on-seven drills, which he did, according to Ralph Vacchiano of the New York Daily News. It’s a big first step for him, though it’s unclear if he’s going to be full-go at practice moving forward, or if he’ll be in action for the second week of the preseason.

There’s no word on who’s ahead just yet, just that offensive line coach Mike Munchak considers this a full competition, as reported by Alan Robinson of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

Manziel, after all the hype, after all the tabloid sensationalism, and after all the media fervor, came out and acquitted himself nicely. I think that’s about the best way that I can put it.

One of the most common things you see from rookie quarterbacks in their first few games (and in the bad cases, this doesn’t go away) is an apparent lack of confidence. Confidence isn’t a measurable trait nor is it objectively observable, but I do think it’s possible to perceive a tentativeness in throwing the football, a frenetic affect, passiveness, bewilderment, confusion, or in some cases, fear. Manziel had none of these traits in his first NFL game, in my opinion, and looked calm, confident and poised. It’s a cliche, but the game did not look “too big” for Johnny Football in this one, particularly in the context of the situation.

Bob Holtzman of ESPN reported Manziel had moved ahead of Hoyer, according to a team source. Pettine called the report untrue and said only he, offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan and quarterbacks coach Dowell Loggains know the status of the competition and none of the three has told anyone. Manziel made his preseason debut on Saturday and completed 7 of 11 passes for 63 yards while rushing for 27 yards.

Although Manziel may not be in the lead, according to Pettine, it does appear he’s narrowed the gap. Hoyer opened camp as the leader and while Pettine said Hoyer hasn’t done anything to lose that spot, he also said Manziel has shown “a lot of improvement.” Hoyer and Manziel will continue to split first-team reps in practice leading up to the second preseason game. NFL Network reported Manziel would start Cleveland’s second preseason game, but Pettine denied that report as well and said he hasn’t named a starter.

This is what the Lions came away with thanks to their 13-12 victory on Saturday:

Photo credit: Diamond Images

Taking over about halfway through the second quarter, Manziel threw plenty of short passes and showed his desire to run with the ball if there was nobody open (or, more accurately: if he didn’t notice the players who were open). He finished with 63 yards on seven completions. But his play wasn’t the only thing to happen Saturday.

Four games were played on Saturday night. Get caught up with the scores, notable injuries and standout performers below:

If reading about his first NFL pass wasn’t enough, we’ve got video below:

The Browns received the second half kickoff and, of course, Manziel was still in action. He ran for a couple yards (his “slide” is not pretty), threw for a couple more yards and then ... ran for a couple yards. The Browns ended up kicking a field goal on that drive, but keep in mind the Browns started that drive near midfield. Manziel also took a big hit to end that drive, which you can see here.

Welcome to the NFL, Manziel:

If this Johnny Manziel jersey looks a little off to you, it’s because it’s actually not a Johnny Manziel jersey. Instead, this is an Ollie Linton jersey. Linton, an outfielder for the Akron RubberDucks, wore Manziel’s No. 2 during the RubberDucks’ Browns jersey night.

That’s right, the RubberDucks wore Cleveland Brown-inspired jerseys. Akron is the Double-A affiliate of the Cleveland Indians. Maybe LeBron James’ return to Cleveland will lead to Cavaliers-inspired baseball jerseys next. Here is Linton in action sporting the Browns No. 2:

You’re never too young to take a sign to an NFL preseason game just to troll the opponent’s highly touted rookie quarterback.

Excellent work young man!

More on the matchup: The biggest question mark of the game is whether Manziel shows any signs of being ready to start Week 1. In order to do that, he’ll have to make plays and show he can avoid the type of mistakes typical of a rookie quarterback. Though the defense won’t show much, the speed of the game will test him early on.

With the Lions, there are few surprises heading into the matchup since both sides of the ball feature playmaking veterans poised to make good on aspirations to become a playoff team. That journey begins on Saturday, and from top to bottom their focus is likely on building a winning infrastructure under new head coach Jim Caldwell.

7:30 p.m. ET (NFL Network)

7:30 p.m. ET (Pittsburgh: KDKA CBS, New York: WNBC)