Browns coach Mike Pettine says Rex Grossman ‘can still play’
By Dan Zinski
Mike Pettine may sense that he has a little selling job to do after the Browns elected to cut rookie QB Connor Shaw and roll with veteran Rex Grossman as their #3 QB behind Brian Hoyer and Johnny Manziel.
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In the interest of that, Pettine made sure to say lots of nice things about Grossman, who is 34 now and hasn’t thrown a pass since 2011 (via Ohio.com):
"“Rex is a veteran, he’s played in this system, he’s good for [Hoyer and Manziel] and he also showed that he can still throw it, and that’s the most important thing,” Pettine said in a news release. “He can still play.”"
Grossman provides the Browns with a veteran option should something happen to both Hoyer and Manziel. Cleveland learned the value of keeping three QBs on the roster last year when they ended up using Hoyer, Brandon Weeden and Jason Campbell.
And the Browns can still have their cake and eat it too if Connor Shaw passes through waivers unclaimed and is signed back to the practice squad.
Anyone else get the sense that Pettine didn’t really want to keep Grossman but had the journeyman QB foisted on him by the front office?
This will be a non-story if indeed things go according to plan in Cleveland. That plan is for Brian Hoyer to hold down the fort until Johnny Manziel proves he can start in the NFL. How long that process takes is entirely up to Manziel.
Meanwhile, Grossman gets to wear a baseball cap and hold a clipboard. Not a bad gig.