Johnny Manziel is trying to overtake veteran Josh McCown for the Browns starting quarterback role, but sitting out practices with elbow soreness is no way to go about accomplishing that. There may be no way for Manziel to avoid bouts of soreness though, unless he completely overhauls his throwing motion.
"You see a three-quarter release sometimes," offensive coordinator John DeFilippo said to Cleveland.com. "I'm a big believer in once guys get to this level, you can help them with their lower body from the waist down. It's really, really hard to change from the waist up. It really is."
Mike Pettine Is Not Giving Johnny Manziel Enough Of A Chance
So far this preseason Manziel has outperformed McCown, but doesn't appear to have made up much ground in the race to be starter. Perhaps there was never really any race, or if there was, Manziel was just too far behind from the start.
Manziel ran for a score in the first week of the preseason, and led the team in rushing (it was only 14 yards). In Week 2, Manziel was 10-of-18 with a touchdown pass, while McCown chucked two interceptions. Coach Mike Pettine wasn't even entertaining speculation after the game.
Josh McCown "Firm" Starter Despite Shaky Week 2 Preseason Game
"We'll evaluate both guys," Pettine said. "I'm not going to sit here and talk about trying to start up a quarterback controversy."
If Manziel misses enough time with this sore elbow, that alone might quell the discussion. The bigger question is whether Cleveland is concerned long term that their supposed quarterback of the future might have lingering questions about his most important joint.
"No, I'm not [concerned],'' DeFelippo said. "Johnny has probably got what 30 or 40 percent of the other quarterbacks in the league have right now: sore elbows, sore shoulders. There's a lot of wear and tear on those guys in terms of their arm."
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