NFL News: Johnny Manziel’s Rookie Season With Cleveland Browns Over
Johnny Manziel, the popular rookie quarterback for the Cleveland Browns, has been placed on the injured reserve status on Wednesday which means his first season in the National Football League (NFL) is over. The Browns failed to qualify in the postseason.
Manziel suffered a hamstring injury in Week 16 against the Carolina Panthers. The 2012 Heisman Trophy winner ended up with 32 passing yards on 3-of-8 completions but had to leave the game in the first half because of the said injury. The Panthers won 17-13 over the Browns and remained in playoff contention.
Owing to a great college football career with Texas A&M in National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) football, Manziel is one of the most hyped players to enter the NFL. He has so far failed to live up to the expectations. He settled for a back-up role behind veteran QB Brian Hoyer in the first 13 games of the regular season before getting his first start on Dec. 14 against the Cincinnati Bengals. Manziel’s unreadiness to become a starting QB was exposed in this game as he had two interceptions in an embarrassing 30-0 loss. He finished with 80 passing yards on 10-of-18 completions with no touchdowns.
Both Hoyer and Manziel are now improbable to play for the Browns in their last regular season game and undrafted rookie Connor Shaw or Tyler Thigpen will most likely start for Cleveland, which has a 7-8 win-loss record the worst mark in the AFC North. The Browns will miss the playoffs for the 12th straight year and their last postseason appearance was in 2002.
Manziel finishes the year with 5 games under his belt with totals of 18-of-35 completions for 175 passing yards, 0 TD and 2 INT. He also rushed for 29 yards on 5 carries with 1 rushing TD.