Johnny Manziel is back throwing on the football field

Any comeback attempt is at a very early stage, but Johnny Manziel is back practicing football.

Off the field concerns led the Cleveland Browns to waive Johnny Manziel last March, and ongoing issues after that led to him not playing football at all during the 2016 season. But more recently “Johnny Football” acknowledged he was “lost in the sauce” and was willing to take NFL-administered drug tests as part of a comeback attempt.

Though it was later refuted due to another team owning his negotiating rights, a report surfaced that Manziel had worked out for the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders.

If Manziel is serious about playing football again, he appears to have taken a big step toward that goal this week. Here’s some visual evidence.

Manziel is back working with noted quarterback guru George Whitfield Jr., who has built a name for himself by predominantly working with NFL draft prospects. Something as fundamental as “toe down through the throw” is having to be built back into Manziel’s muscle memory. But a comeback has to start somewhere, and Manziel has to prove he can perform in a practice or workout setting first and foremost.

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If Manziel truly has his past troubles behind him, another opportunity to be a quarterback may come before too long. That chance may be in the CFL initially, but as long as Manziel is serious about playing football again it shouldn’t matter in the grand scheme of things.