Browns coach Mike Pettine told Johnny Manziel and Brian Hoyer on Monday afternoon that he was turning the team over to Manziel.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Browns coach Mike Pettine pulled Johnny Manziel and Brian Hoyer into his office on Monday afternoon and informed the two quarterbacks that he was turning the team over to the rookie for the final three games of the season.
The move came a day after the crushing 25-24 loss to the Colts in which Hoyer played poorly for the fourth straight game, and the Browns all but destroyed their playoff chances.
In keeping with his "best chance to win'' philosophy, Pettine stressed that he made the move to try to keep the Browns' playoff hopes alive. Manziel will start Sunday's game against the 8-4-1 Bengals, who are in first place in the AFC North. The Browns are 7-6 and need to win out to have a shot at the postseason.
"We've made the decision to start Johnny this week against the Bengals,'' Pettine said in a release. "This decision is really not about Brian Hoyer or Johnny Manziel, it is about the Cleveland Browns. We are always going to make decisions that we feel are in the best interest of the team.''
He went on to praise Hoyer, who's 10-6 in a Browns uniform.
"Brian has done everything that has been asked of him and he has done so as a true professional,'' Pettine said. "It's never just any one position when a unit is not functioning at the level you'd like. We are trying to get the offense to perform at a higher level.
"Johnny has worked very hard to earn this opportunity and it will be very important for every member of the offense to elevate their play for us to obtain our desired result."
Manziel, who engineered an 80-yard touchdown drive in Buffalo two games ago, credited Hoyer with helping him get to this point.
"I'm very appreciative of the opportunity that Coach Pettine and the coaching staff have given me to be the starter on Sunday,'' Manziel said in the release. "I've tried to spend my entire season learning what it takes to become a pro and it's been great to watch Brian because he knows what it takes.
"I've prepared every week to be ready to help the team however possible and my focus has been on improving every day. I'm very excited to get out on the field with my teammates on Sunday and to have the opportunity to make the Dawg Pound proud."
Hoyer, a true professional, vowed to do everything he can to help Manziel prepare.
"Although I am disappointed by coach's decision, I respect him and his choice and will be there to support Johnny,'' he said in a release. "As always, I will do whatever I can to help this team win."
After Sunday's game against the Bengals, Manziel will close out the season on the road against Panthers -- whose quarterback Cam Newton fractured his lower back in a car accident on Monday -- and against the Ravens, who defeated the Browns 23-21 in the first meeting.
The decision was difficult, because Hoyer is 2-0 against the Bengals, including a 24-3 loss Nov. 6 in Cincinnati. He also engineered four fourth-quarter comebacks this season. But he's thrown only one touchdown pass and eight interceptions in his last four games, going 1-3 in that span.
"When you go back and watch the tape, there are clearly some throws that he missed, but I think it was also exaggerated by how poorly we were in the pass game around him,'' Pettine said Monday. "That's difficult. The quarterback is only as good as his supporting cast, so when the guys around him play well, Brian will play well.
"It's rare that there's a quarterback that can transcend his supporting cast. You go to even the best ones in the league and the guys around him aren't playing at the levels they should be. It's very difficult to overcome that, but we're in the results business. We've lost two in a row. We all know what the numbers have been in the pass game, and for us to be successful, they need to improve.''
The move could spell the end of Hoyer's career in Cleveland. His contract is up after this season, and it remains to be seen if the Browns will try to re-sign him. Hoyer made it clear that he wants to start somewhere, whether it's here or elsewhere.
On Monday, he lamented the sudden turnaround in the perception of his performance.
"It's crazy how fast things change,'' said Hoyer. "I feel like four or five weeks ago we're talking about contract talks and now we're talking about if I'm even going to be staying here. It's the furthest thing from my mind right now.''
Hoyer, who completed 14-of-31 attempts for 140 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions for a season-low 31.7 rating against the Colts, defended his performance in the game.
"Everybody's got to be able to step up and when you're not being perfect you need one guy to step up and make a big play and we didn't have that yesterday,'' he said. "We didn't have one play that just changed it all for us and when you're having a game where there's some inconsistencies, and not everybody's doing their job on every play, you need that one play or that one player to make a play and we didn't have it yesterday.''
He agreed with the notion that as bad as it was Sunday, he made a throw at the end that could've won the game, heaving a 55-yard pass to Josh Gordon down the deep left sideline, where it slipped through his hands at the Colts' 32. At the very least, it would've put the Browns in gamewinning field goal range.
"Yeah, like I said, to watch that film, it's even more disappointing to watch it than the way we felt yesterday (afterwards) because we had opportunities,'' said Hoyer. "You talk about that one throw, there's chances to win the game, so like I said, it's disappointing.
Manziel almost won the job last week, but Pettine said he decided to stick with the player who had gotten them into the playoff hunt. Manziel vowed to work even harder.
"I felt like I came out and did what I was supposed to do and be prepared and come into the game and be on the field and be competitive,'' he said last week. "That's what I wanted to do and I want to show through practice even after this that my mood hasn't changed and I'm not taking this lightly.
"All this is going to do is motivate me to come in here to work every day, come to practice and continue to elevate my game to where next time where there's a situation like this that there's maybe no doubt."
The Browns are hoping he's right.
