Pettine: Game plan will be tweaked

BEREA, Ohio -- Cleveland Browns coach Mike Pettine is no different from the rest of the world: He's eager to see what rookie Johnny Manziel does in his first start.

"I'd be a liar if I said I wasn't excited to see him play,'' Pettine said Wednesday, one day after Manziel was named starter over Brian Hoyer for Sunday's game against the Cincinnati Bengals. "We've seen it in practice. We got a taste of it in Buffalo.''

Pettine elaborated on his decision, saying it wasn't difficult because the play the team had gotten from Hoyer had been trending downward for a month.

"No hesitancy or reluctance," Pettine said, adding the meeting to decide who would start "didn't last very long."

Hoyer has guided just one touchdown drive in his last 29 possessions, and his QB rating had dropped each week since the Browns beat Cincinnati on Nov. 6.

In that time, the Browns have watched a 6-3 record drop to 7-6, moving from first place in the AFC North to last.

Pettine talked at length about Manziel's mobility being a benefit to the offense, which could offset his inexperience. He said Manziel allows the team to change some elements of the offensive plan, and he could bring more energy. But the coach added the team would not install a new playbook in a week.

"We're just highlighting a different portion of it," Pettine said.

Manziel spent part of his Tuesday preparing at the team facility. A week earlier, Manziel was in his courtside seats for the Cleveland Cavaliers as a decision on the starter was being discussed. Hoyer kept the job the following day, the team announced.

"I know a lot of people were looking for him at the Cavs game," Pettine said. "But he was here [Wednesday]."

Pettine cautioned that if the team as a whole does not play better around him, it won't matter that the change was made.

"If we don't pick up our play around the quarterback, we'd be extremely foolish to expect different results," he said.