Browns coach says ‘repercussions would be harsh’ if Manziel has another incident

Cleveland Browns coach Mike Pettine, in the strongest words possible, said Wednesday that "repercussions would be harsh" if quarterback Johnny Manziel messes up with another off-the-field incident.

The Browns named Manziel their starting quarterback on Tuesday — two weeks after a two-game benching.

"(It's) hard to put things in a vacuum," Pettine said Wednesday. "I don't want to sit here and say, 'Look at the degree of discipline.' It's hard to say we have a zero-tolerance policy. If something were to occur, I imagine the repercussions would be harsh."

Pettine acknowledged the Browns knew Manziel had some issues with his partying reputation before they drafted him in the first round in 2014.

"I don't think we anticipated that his problems, his issues, maybe how deep-rooted they were, the extent of it,'' Pettine said. "If you sat in our draft meetings and listened to the background reports on a lot of our guys and you took guys off the board based on that, there would be about five or six magnets left over to pick from. You have to decide how much of this is maturity. Was it early in his college year? Is it continuing? You do as much research as you can. ... That's why the draft is hit or miss with so many guys just because of how impossible it is to predict those things as they move forward."

Manziel, who spent 10 weeks in a treatment facility after his rookie season, lost the starting job after a video of him partying in Austin, Texas, during the Browns' bye week surfaced on social media.

Manziel subsequently lied to Browns coaches about when the video was filmed after he had just been named the team's starting quarterback for the final six games of the season. Manziel claimed the video was old, but the team learned it had been shot during the bye week.

"I was forced to learn a hard lesson," Manziel said after Wednesday's practice. "I had to learn the hard way and I'm lucky to be back in the position that I'm in and being the starter again, so I'm definitely not taking that lightly. That's for sure."

Manziel called his actions a lapse in judgment.

"Obviously, there's a way to conduct yourself that 31 other guys in the league do each and every week," he said. "You have to follow that example and realize that this is a very prestigious situation that I'm in being a starting quarterback in the NFL, so I have to take pride in that and act accordingly."

Manziel reclaimed the job after Austin Davis started last Sunday in the Browns' 37-3 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals and passed for 230 yards with one interception. The Browns face the San Francisco 49ers this week.

"We know there's some off-the-field issues there with Johnny,'' Pettine said. "That's been very public and debated. Those are things we're well aware of. We're going to spend some time, whether it's now doing what you can and after the season addressing those. That's why we made the decision to go with Austin (last week) and here we are with Johnny. Like I said, we want to see him play.

"Our first concern always will be with the person before the player. And we have discussions, very personal, very private discussions about his issues and things like that get addressed. I wouldn't say it adds to the challenge. That's part of coaching, whether you're a mentor, an authority figure, a brother, it all comes with that and we always want what's best for our guys personally. They have to be in a good place personally for them to be in a good place professionally."

Manziel's last start came Nov. 15 in Pittsburgh, where passed for a career-high 372 yards in a loss. He has started three games this season and appeared in six, completing 76 of 128 passes for 933 yards, five touchdowns and two interceptions. Manziel has added 90 yards rushing.