The Cleveland Browns will not start Johnny Manziel at quarterback on Sunday. They still might have intentions to use him in their gameplan, however.
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That has been no secret, as the Pittsburgh Steelers have been convinced from the start that they would see Manziel at one point or another in their week 1 game against the Browns. If they are right, then it is just a question of the capacity in which they would see Manziel on the field.
Jason La Canfora of CBS reports that the Browns do in fact have Manziel in the gameplan. Specifically, they have read-option plays involving Manziel available:
"The Browns are sticking with Brian Hoyer as their starting quarterback but that does not preclude the possibility of backup Johnny Manziel seeing the field Sunday. Read-option plays for Manziel are in the gameplan, sources said, and the Browns did devote a modicum of practice time this week working on them.There has been nothing explicitly expressed to the team about how much or how little they will be used but they are certainly available in coordinator Kyle Shanahan’s call sheet and Shanahan displayed a willingness in Washington to call plenty of them for Robert Griffin III in Washington over the past two seasons."
La Canfora then notes that, like every NFL team in the league on Sunday, the Browns will make their decisions based on game situations like the down, the distance, and the score. The only additional factor for the Browns coaches might be whether or not they would like to see the internet melt with all the hot takes in the event that Manziel does enter the game.
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