{"id":10401,"date":"2015-11-25T09:06:56","date_gmt":"2015-11-25T17:06:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spijue.wpengine.com\/news\/johnny-manziel-benched-by-browns-for-off-field-behavior\/"},"modified":"2015-11-25T09:06:56","modified_gmt":"2015-11-25T17:06:56","slug":"johnny-manziel-benched-by-browns-for-off-field-behavior","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/sports\/johnny-manziel-benched-by-browns-for-off-field-behavior\/","title":{"rendered":"Johnny Manziel benched by Browns for off-field behavior"},"content":{"rendered":"

BEREA, Ohio \u2014<\/strong> Dropped from starter to third-stringer \u2014 without playing a game.<\/p>\n

Johnny Manziel partied his way out of the lineup during Cleveland\u2019s bye week.<\/p>\n

Browns coach Mike Pettine benched the polarizing quarterback on Tuesday for his off-field behavior, a move that could signal Manziel\u2019s days with the team are numbered.<\/p>\n

Pettine said Josh McCown will start Monday night\u2019s game against Baltimore in place of Manziel, who was recently handed the starting job but couldn\u2019t keep it while the team had a week off.<\/p>\n

Manziel\u2019s benching comes in the wake of a video surfacing of him holding a bottle of champagne and rapping profane lyrics last weekend in an Austin, Texas, nightclub. He had promised not to bring any embarrassment to the team during its week off, and did just that and Pettine, who has been supportive of Manziel in the past, has had enough.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone in this organization wants what is best for Johnny just like we do for every player in our locker room. I\u2019m especially disappointed in his actions and behavior because he has been working very hard,\u201d Pettine said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe improvements from last year to this year have been tremendous, but he still has to consistently demonstrate that he has gained a good understanding of what it takes to be successful at the quarterback position on this level,\u201d he said. \u201cIt goes well beyond the field.\u201d<\/p>\n

Manziel will not only move back behind McCown, but he\u2019ll also be below Austin Davis on the depth chart.<\/p>\n

Pettine met with Manziel following practice Tuesday and informed him of his choice to bench him for the foreseeable future. Pettine, whose job could be in jeopardy if the Browns (2-8) don\u2019t demonstrate some progress the rest of this season, said owner Jimmy Haslam and general manager Ray Farmer support his decision.<\/p>\n

The 22-year-old Manziel has developed on the field during his second NFL season. However, despite saying he had learned from his past mistakes, Manziel, who spent 70 days during the offseason in a rehab facility specializing in alcohol and drug treatment, has not shown the maturity the Browns are looking for from their quarterback.<\/p>\n

Before Tuesday\u2019s practice, Pettine expressed both disappointment and frustration with Manziel, who passed for a career-high 372 yards in a recent loss to Pittsburgh. As he got ready to turn his players loose last week, Pettine spoke to Manziel about being responsible and was given assurances by the 2012 Heisman Trophy winner that he would behave.<\/p>\n

Manziel didn\u2019t make his plans known, but pledged that he would not become a distraction.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think they\u2019re going to have to worry about me this week,\u201d he told reporters.<\/p>\n

But it was hardly shocking when the video and photos appeared of Manziel, who entered the league with a reputation for enjoying his free time.<\/p>\n

This time, though, the Browns weren\u2019t so willing to excuse Manziel\u2019s conduct.<\/p>\n

Pettine said much of his displeasure in Manziel stemmed in him not seeming to understand that his behavior was a reflection on the team.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have a vision of what you want the team to look like, how you want them to handle themselves when they\u2019re out of the building,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s not just pure football here, it\u2019s truly player development on and off the field.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe always say to whom much is given, much is expected, and that\u2019s true for all of our players,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

McCown has finally recovered from a serious rib injury, which had initially vaulted Manziel into the starting lineup.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy hope for him is, whatever those choices that he\u2019s making, that they\u2019re healthy choices and they\u2019re good for him as a person,\u201d McCown said. \u201cWhen you\u2019re in that room with somebody and spend as much time as we do together, there\u2019s a connection there.\u201d<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com\/AP_NFL<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BEREA, Ohio \u2014 Dropped from starter to third-stringer \u2014 without playing a game. Johnny Manziel partied his way out of the lineup during Cleveland\u2019s bye week. Browns coach Mike Pettine benched the polarizing quarterback on Tuesday for his off-field behavior, a move that could signal Manziel\u2019s days with the team are numbered. Pettine said Josh […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":107,"featured_media":10402,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_stopmodifiedupdate":false,"_modified_date":"","wds_primary_category":6,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-10401","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10401","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/107"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10401"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10401\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10402"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10401"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10401"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10401"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=10401"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}