The way Joe Thomas talks about Brian Hoyer, you’d swear the Cleveland Browns have the second coming of Y.A. Tittle on their hands.
Thomas, a veteran offensive lineman on the team and 7-time Pro Bowler, spoke with reporters after practice Monday and had nothing but praise for Hoyer, who is currently the team’s starter. Thomas even compared the former Patriots draft pick with New England’s star quarterback.
“He’s a lot like Tom Brady,” Thomas said at training camp Monday via Cleveland.com. “When you look at the way he competes and the way he demands the most out of everybody around him, it’s no coincidence that those guys played together. (Hoyer) has a lot of those same mental attributes and that’s a great thing for a quarterback to have.
“He’s the ultimate competitor, and no matter if we drafted a quarterback No. 1 overall, I knew that in his mind he expects to win the job because that’s the type of competitor he is and the type of quarterback.”
Thomas says Hoyer has been keeping all the players in check and making all the right throws in practice. Though Hoyer only has four career starts to his name, Thomas says that hasn’t stopped the former Michigan State QB from acting like a veteran.
“He commands a level of respect because of the way he goes about doing his business the right way and acting like he is the starting quarterback that has taken us to five playoffs.”
You’d think the comments from Thomas would be a sign that he prefers Hoyer in the Browns’ quarterback race with Johnny Manziel, but that’s not what his praise of his QB was about; he also had positive things to say about Manziel.
“But Johnny is kind of a quiet guy around the facility. I’m sure it’s hard for most people to believe that with the kind of personality that he’s built up. But he’s kind of quiet. He does things the right way. You look at his notebook and he’s got all sorts of good notes. He sits in the front next to the coach and he’s just focused on his job when he’s here.”
I don’t know about you, but this praise of Hoyer seems excessive. I mean if the guy does anything less than make the Pro Bowl, I’m going to be disappointed. Sure, he went 3-0 last year as a starter, but I want to see what he does as the Week 1 starter of an NFL team. It’s a lot different this way. And Thomas raising the expectations may not exactly be the best thing for his teammate.
Photo: Twitter/STO Ashley
