Mike Pettine considered benching Brian Hoyer for Johnny Manziel

Just when it appeared that Brian Hoyer had the Cleveland Browns’ starting quarterback job locked down for the foreseeable future, the team went out and lost to the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Jags, who were 0-6 entering Sunday, held Hoyer to a season-low 39% completion percentage and an abysmal passer rating of 7.8. Johnny Manziel fans will be hoping to see more of that going forward.

While Browns head coach Mike Pettine insisted on Monday that Hoyer is still “firmly” Cleveland’s starter, he admitted that the team briefly considered benching Hoyer for Manziel on Sunday.

“It was discussed briefly, but it was a situation where we still wanted to … at least try to end the game with Brian on a positive note,” Pettine told reporters, per Mary Kay Cabot of The Cleveland Plain Dealer.

Is anyone else thinking what I’m thinking?

Hoyer has played better than most expected him to, and the Browns are 3-3 as a result. He still has just two interceptions in six games, so it’s going to take more than a rough game against an underrated Jaguars defensive front for him to lose his job. That said, the fact that Pettine admitted he considered benching Hoyer says a lot.

“Each week when the offensive staff gets together — and I’ll jump in with them too — is that they put the plan together, and it’s what gives us the best chance to win,” Pettine added. “So if the situation this week maybe calls for (Manziel) to play some then that will be the case. But we’re not going to hit the panic button after one loss. While we know that the quarterback position needed to be more productive, it was more symptomatic of the entire offense.”

No one should be surprised if Manziel gets a shot to start by the end of the season. Hoyer has to play very well in order to keep his job, and I’m not sure he’s capable of that given the situation. It’s suddenly harder to believe what Pettine said before about Manziel possibly not playing at all.

H/T Rototworld