BEREA: Johnny Manziel almost certainly won’t reach the season’s finish line Sunday, but the reason is unrelated to the latest viral video in which the polarizing Browns quarterback appeared.
Manziel entered the NFL’s concussion protocol Wednesday afternoon, a team spokesman said. He arrived at Browns headquarters in the morning and complained of symptoms. He was sent to the team’s doctors and diagnosed with a concussion in the afternoon.
“We will take the very conservative approach with it,” Browns coach Mike Pettine said, adding Manziel took “a bunch” of big hits last weekend in a 17-13 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
So Manziel is expected to sit out when the Browns (3-12) host the Pittsburgh Steelers (9-6) on Sunday for the regular-season finale.
Austin Davis is set to start in his place. It would be the fourth consecutive season in which the Browns started a third-string quarterback in the finale. Wide receiver-in-training Terrelle Pryor spent Wednesday preparing to serve as the No. 2 quarterback.
Pettine revealed he hadn’t demoted Manziel over the video that surfaced online last weekend showing him rapping and holding a can of what appears to be Four Loko, a malt beverage that contains 12 percent alcohol by volume. Manziel, who spent more than 10 weeks in an inpatient rehabilitation facility in the offseason, had been benched for two games earlier this season after he starred in a party video during the Browns’ bye-week break and later lied to the Browns about it.
Pettine said he had seen the most recent video featuring Manziel, but he hasn’t had a chance to discuss it with the 22nd overall pick in last year’s draft.
“At some point this week when he is back in the building, I’ll get a chance to talk to him about it,” Pettine said. “I know he was at home. He was at home on his day off [when the video was shot]. But as far as the judgment of it getting out there, I question that. But other than that, this is not similar to the circumstances that [led to him being demoted earlier this season].
“Going back to there, that was more trust and accountability than it was necessarily the act. I’ll have a conversation with him at the first time that I can.”
So if Manziel were healthy, Pettine said he would start against the Steelers. But he’s not healthy, so it’s virtually certain that he’ll be ruled out.
Since the start of training camp in late July, 14 Browns players have been diagnosed with concussions. Cornerback Joe Haden and wide receiver Andrew Hawkins were each diagnosed with two concussions, leading them to season-ending injured reserve and driving the team’s total number of concussions to 16.
The San Diego Chargers are the only other NFL club with close to as many players who have been diagnosed with concussions this season. They’ve had 13 players diagnosed and a total of 16.
“I know the number has been high here in Cleveland even going back a couple years,” Pettine said, explaining the team plans to study the trend in the coming offseason. “... Our training staff is already looking at those and pulling individual clips. Hopefully, we will have better answers as to the why as the offseason moves on.”
Browns players have missed 30 games with concussions. The total is expected to rise to 34 with Manziel, cornerback Tramon Williams, wide receiver Marlon Moore and running back Glenn Winston set to miss Sunday’s game because of concussions.
“I think the positives that we can draw from it is it’s really showing people that we’re trying to make this game safer and that we’re going to be aware of the hits and try to make the best decisions possible to protect guys from themselves,” said quarterback Josh McCown, who missed a game with a concussion suffered in the first quarter of the regular-season opener. “That’s what I was going through. I was ready to get back out there and play, but there’s a protocol in place for a reason.
“The volume of guys going through that is going to be a lot more, and it’s going to be more than we’re used to. But I think it’s because we’re taking a cautious approach to it, and I don’t think we’ll see the benefits of that until later on down the road. The hope is that we’ll have healthier people 10, 20 years from now.”
No one knows exactly which hit caused Manziel’s concussion, but two stand out.
He took a helmet-to-helmet shot from Chiefs linebacker Josh Mauga at the end of a 23-yard run on the second-to-last play of the second quarter.
“I was obviously concerned because it was a pretty tough lick,” said McCown, who suffered a season-ending broken collarbone last month.
Then the crown of Manziel’s helmet hit the ground as he fell face first along the Browns’ sideline while defensive lineman Allen Bailey tackled him from behind on a 10-yard run during the first play of the fourth quarter.
“I know our guys looked at him and felt that he was OK,” Pettine said. “I remember that one because it was literally right in front of me.”
Manziel rushed 11 times for 108 yards, a franchise record for a quarterback. His concussion illustrates points that countless coaches make: It’s too risky for a quarterback to run as much as Manziel did in Kansas City, and no quarterback is going to achieve consistent success in the NFL using that strategy because he won’t be able to stay healthy.
“We don’t want it to be 10-12 [rushing attempts for Manziel],” Pettine said. “For the guys that are mobile, you want it to be three or four [carries] because those can be some big plays in your favor. A lot of teams are producing yards and first downs and points with their quarterback’s ability to run. You don’t have to look past the team that has the best record in the league — Carolina.
“Every quarterback has their style, but I just think you need to minimize the number of times that it happens because when it does happen, as we see the result, it’s high risk, but it is also high reward.”
Manziel will more than likely finish the season 2-4 as a starter, meaning he’ll be 2-6 in his NFL career after going 0-2 as a rookie. He’s completed 57.8 percent of his passes this season with seven touchdowns, five interceptions and a rating of 79.4. He’s had 37 carries for 230 yards (6.2 average), taken 19 sacks, fumbled six times and lost three.
“It’s a good chunk,” Pettine said when asked if the Browns have seen Manziel play enough to fully gauge what they have in him. “It’s a lot of film to go back and evaluate.”
Nate Ulrich can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Browns blog at www.ohio.com/browns. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/NateUlrichABJ and on Facebook www.facebook.com/abj.sports.