BEREA, Ohio -- So far, so good for Cleveland Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel as he continues to jump feet-first into a new approach to his NFL career.
And in the past two days, that applies on the field as well as off.
Manziel remains the backup to Josh McCown, whom coach Mike Pettine said is "firmly" No. 1. But for the second day in a row, Manziel had a good practice. General consensus among those who have seen Manziel since he was drafted is that these two days were the best he has had. This came after some of his practices were not noteworthy.
Does that mean the light is going on and that he will continue to grow? Only Manziel can answer that, starting with Friday’s scrimmage at Ohio State. But a practice is different from a scrimmage, which is different from a preseason game, which is way different from a regular-season game.
It’s too early to say if the growth Manziel has shown will translate to regular-season game situations. The past two days of practice have been good, but the memory of the middle-finger debacle in Washington one year ago also remains.
So while growth is good, it’s still small steps.
This does seem to be a different Manziel, though, at least based on the way he has worked and the way he spoke in a nine-minute news conference. This was Manziel’s second appearance with the media since the 2014 season ended, and his emphasis is that it’s now football, without the nickname.
For Manziel the football player, though, it still comes down to Sundays.
One of the more interesting admissions Manziel made was that in college he never knew a protection, never dealt with lengthy play calls in the huddle and never had to identify the Mike linebacker -- a requirement for protection calls in the NFL.
Manziel has gone from near make-it-up-on-the-fly football to extreme structure and system. The transition has been difficult, made more so by the off-field activities in his rookie season.
Manziel has taken steps to help himself be a better player and teammate -- one of the specifics he said was a goal when he checked into treatment. Manziel smiled broadly at the notion that so far in camp, he has been out of the spotlight.
Nobody can get inside Manziel’s head but Manziel, and he has fairly kept some elements of his life protected and private. But he and his teammates and coaches have said little that isn’t positive about his approach.
There is plenty to like about what Manziel is doing.
There is also a long way to go.
