The latest on the Browns:
- Many would assume that Johnny Manziel is pulling for Mike Pettine to be fired after the Browns quarterback was demoted this season. However, he says that’s not the case, as Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon-Journal writes. “I have a ton of respect for [Pettine],” Manziel said Wednesday after practice. “Whether I liked the situation or not and liked the outcome of what happened, I had a part in that, too, and I had to take responsibility and own up to that. It was on nobody else but me. It wasn’t Coach Pettine’s fault that I did what I did. It was just on my end taking responsibility, and there’s no grudges, there’s no hate or anything like that. He’s our head coach and our leader, and I definitely have a respect for him and that’s not going to change no matter what.”
- Pettine, meanwhile, is aware that center Alex Mack might not be back in 2016. The Browns Pro Bowl center holds a player option that he can exercise if he wants to test the open market. “He could. We don’t have much control over that,” Pettine said with regards to the 30-year-old, as Ulrich writes. “That’s his personal decision. It’s in his favor that he has that in his contract, and we’ll react accordingly. Alex Mack’s a Cleveland Brown. We’d love to have him here and be a part of what we’re doing, but that’s a decision that’ll be made down the road.” On Wednesday, PFR’s Luke Adams highlighted Mack when looking at Pro Bowl players who could cash in in the open market this offseason.
- When it comes to Mack, the Browns’ contingency plan needs a contingency plan, Tom Reed of The Plain Dealer writes. The Browns thought they found their plan B when they selected the versatile Cameron Erving in the 2015 Draft with the No. 19 pick. As it turns out, Erving is a long way from playing anywhere near Mack’s level.
Browns front office and coaching staff need an enema