Johnny Manziel to be full participant at Browns OTAs

Johnny Manziel will be a full participant, without limitations, at the Cleveland Browns off-season training activities.

Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel appears to be ready to prove his doubters wrong come this NFL season and he’s getting started in the offseason. As reported by Connor Orr of NFL.com, Manziel will report for Off-Season Training Activities and will be a full participant in drills, a move that will help him take another step forward to earning his team’s trust.

He’s not only being described as “night and day” from last year, but he’s that guy who comes in first and leaves last, putting in more work than any of his teammates this offseason. That hasn’t been the reputation for Manziel during this short NFL career, and for good reason though. He quickly garnered the reputation of a guy who wasn’t taking his job seriously and the fives games he played in were predictably awful. He ended his season by being ruled out of the Browns’ final game after missing the Saturday walk-through.

Now we all get to see whether Manziel’s first offseason in the league has paid off. So far, Browns coach Mike Pettine has been certain that his Week 1 starter will be Josh McCown. However, if Manziel goes out and shows that he can throw at a consistent level, it’s possible that will throw a little bit of doubt on that certainty. It will also provide a good look at whether the voices calling for the Manziel experiment to be blown up after one, abbreviated season were right or not.

In other words, Manziel has a lot to prove. Not just that he belongs with the Browns, but that he belongs in the league at all. The NFL continues to be a place with little to no tolerance for stragglers and those unable to stand the pressure and work.

Earlier in the month, the Browns GM Ray Farmer had positive things to say about Manziel. Even though most of his remarks were directed towards likely starter Josh McCown, Farmer said he commended Manziel for taking the necessary steps to get back on track. He added that he thought Manziel seemed focused and dialed-in since he’s been back.

It’s good to hear that the GM has positive things to say, but what about his teammates? Manziel notoriously lost the respect of many of his teammates last year when he came out unprepared for his late season games and consequently put forth an awful performance. In five games, he made 35 passing attempts and completed only 18. He threw no touchdowns and two interceptions. His rushing stats were no better at nine attempts for 29 yards.

However, the Browns Pro Bowl left tackle, Joe Thomas did an interview at the end of last month where he said he saw significant improvement in Manziel’s attitude since the quarterback left treatment. He wasn’t the only one, cornerback Joe Haden said Manziel has been relentlessly working on studying the new offense.

You have to believe that this season is key for Manziel. He has to show he belongs in the league sooner rather than later, or he will be out quickly.

H/T NFL.com

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