Browns QB Brian Hoyer: 'My team until someone else tells me otherwise'
Quarterback Brian Hoyer said Monday that the Cleveland Browns are his team right now.
“To me, this is my team until someone else tells me otherwise,” Hoyer said.
Hoyer was listed as the Browns' first-team quarterback when the team released its first depth chart last week. In Saturday night's preseason opener against Detroit, Hoyer completed 6 of 14 pass attempts for 92 yards, while rookie Johnny Manziel went 7-of-11 for 63 yards and added 27 yards on the ground.
In a conference call with reporters on Sunday, coach Mike Pettine addressed the quarterback competition between Hoyer and Manziel.
More: The MMQB: Breaking down Johnny Manziel's first NFL experience
Pettine denied an ESPN report saying that Manziel has moved ahead of Hoyer on the depth chart and said there was no front-runner to start the team's Sept. 7 regular-season opener at Pittsburgh.
"To me, if there was a clear-cut favorite at this point, it would probably mean that one of them wasn't playing very well,'' Pettine said. "And it's a good problem, having two guys that we think are both capable of being NFL starters.''
Pettine also said that he hasn't decided who will start Cleveland's next preseason game, at Washington on Aug. 18. Last week reports surfaced that there was a "very good chance" Manziel would start that game.
Hoyer, 28, threw for 615 yards, five touchdowns and three interceptions over three starts with the Browns last season before tearing his ACL.
Cleveland selected Manziel with the No. 22 pick in this year's draft. The 21-year-old won the Heisman Trophy in his redshirt freshman season at Texas A&M.
The Browns went 4-12 and finished in last place in the AFC North last season.
- Chris Johnson
