Johnny Manziel May Not Start On Sunday After All

There were plenty of rumors circling earlier this week that Johnny Manziel would start against the Titans in Sunday’s game, but the Texas A&M alum may not get that chance. The starting quarterback for the Cleveland Browns, John McCown, suffered a concussion during their season opener against the New York Jets, and is currently in the concussion protocol.

After McCown left the game last Sunday, Manziel stepped in to take his place, and it was assumed by many that if McCown’s condition ended up keeping him out of the game for a while, Manziel would have his opportunity to shine.

However, that opportunity may not be so close after all, as rumors now seem to be moving in the opposite direction. A league source has said that Josh McCown was feeling much better yesterday, and that the blast that injured McCown looked a lot worse than it actually felt. McCown may indeed be able to get himself up and into the Browns’ home opener on September 20, if not a few practices later this week. Being in the concussion protocol, though, he still has to get clearance to play, which may not happen regardless of how much stronger he’s feeling.

Mike Pettine, head coach for the Browns, says that for now they will continue to move forward as if Johnny Manziel were starting the game on Sunday. He did say that to have Josh McCown healthy and able to play would be the ideal situation, but that they were going to move forward with alternate plans until McCown is officially approved to play.

If Manziel were to start, he’d be facing up against the 2014 Heisman Trophy winner, Marcus Mariota. Manziel won the Heisman himself in 2012, but didn’t put forth his best performance when he took over for McCown against the Jets this past weekend and turned the ball over three times. He did gain the team a touchdown int he first half, but his second half numbers certainly left something to be desired. Manziel didn’t shy away from the truth regarding that game, but he did tell CBS Sports that he’ll go into this week “Ready to go.”

After the party-boy reputation that Manziel racked up last year, this might be his chance to get the NFL to take him more seriously. He seems to be making the effort to move up to the front lines, and the team seems to trust that he’d be able to hold his own in McCown’s place, but there are still a lot of factors that will determine who plays in the upcoming game.

[Image courtesy of Rich Schultz / Getty Images]