Mike Pettine refuses to commit to starting quarterback

Browns coach Mike Pettine won’t commit to a starting quarterback with ten days to go before the team’s next game against Pittsburgh.

Johnny Manziel quarterbacked the Browns in Thursday night’s 31-10 defeat with Josh McCown missing through injury, but McCown is expected to be healthy by next weekend, leaving Pettine with a decision to make, and a decision he’s deferring with a mini-bye to think about it.

“As I’ve said all along, we’ll make the decision each week based on who gives us the best opportunity to win,” Pettine said on Friday, via Cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot.

With the Browns going nowhere fast, the question for Pettine is whether he wants to go with a young team to see what he’s got or stick with the team he’s been using. If he does the latter, it probably means McCown gets his job back. If the former, the Browns will likely give Manziel a shot.

Manziel received mixed reviews on Thursday, with his first half grading out well but with a poor finish to go along with it. Pettine was also critical of some of Manziel’s decisions, with his halftime interview implying that he wanted Manziel to stay in the pocket.

“He did some good things getting out of the pocket the first half, but there were a couple of plays where the read was there early and those are the plays we want him to make when they’re there,” Pettine clarified. “The second half they did a good job of taking away the first read initially and they did a better job of staying in rush lanes and bottling him up.”

Pettine doesn’t sound thrilled with Manziel’s performance, calling him “inconsistent” and saying that he was trying to do too much. Considering McCown hasn’t been all that bad for Cleveland, Pettine may well go right back to his starter in ten days.