After a dismal showing and a hamstring injury, rumors are flying around that the Browns may be giving up on Johnny Manziel. Apparently the rookie quarterback has failed to live up to the hype, a development which has led to possible trade rumors involving the 22nd overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft.
Manziel lost his first two NFL starts to Brian Hoyer and has been given limited opportunities to show what he can truly do. And that alone should douse water over trade rumors, something which Cleveland Browns coach Mike Pettine affirms heading into 2015.
Pettine mentioned that Manziel will have his chance once again to compete and that for now, he remains on the team's roster.
The same goes for other members of the team like safety Donte Whitner who like Pettine believes that it is unfair to pass judgment on Manziel with the limited chances he was given during the season.
However, Whitner did add that he saw promise in Manziel, referring to Manziel as looking pretty good in their practices.
"From what I've seen and going against him on the scout team, he looked pretty good to us," Whitner said, according to ABC News. "We'll see. He only played, what, seven quarters, six quarters. So you can't really judge based on that, so we'll have to wait probably another six months to a year to see how he really pans out."
For his part, Manziel voiced out and said that it would be premature to give up on him after seven quarters of football.
Apparently a meager seven quarters is indeed not enough to properly show off Manziel's true potential.
Outside the playing field, Manziel has had his issues through his early playing career. That involves misdemeanor issues for being part of the Johnny Football, Party Boy Extraordinaire and being involved in a fight with a fan.
But Manziel swears that he has been a changed man ever since.
"I haven't painted the greatest picture of me of being in here and staying on top of my stuff,'' he said, as reported by Cleveland.com. "I'm sure with the stuff I've done off the field it's negatively affected that. But I know, and what matters to me most the guys in this locker room see I'm inn here working and these coaches know this is my life and this is my job and I'm 100 percent committed to that.''
