Johnny Manziel has generated a hurricane of off-the-field attention this summer, but Browns wideout Andrew Hawkins says Cleveland's rookie quarterback didn't come across as a party boy at the team facility.
"Johnny's all business, man," Hawkins told SiriusXM NFL Radio on Friday. "I can't speak for all the other stuff because all I know is the Johnny I see in his playbook all day and trying to learn the plays and pick up an NFL offense, which is extremely hard for anybody, much less a guy who left college early. He worked his butt off, and I think that is all you can ask of him."
The nod to Manziel's on-the-clock work ethic echoes what we heard from coach Mike Pettine, who praised the quarterback's development while brushing aside tales of inflatable swans and the images of JFF poolside with a musclebound Gronk and his many minxstresses.
"I would become concerned if there was something criminal and I'd be concerned if it affected his job," Pettine said in June.
Said Hawkins of the rookie: "I think he's doing all the right things now and it's a process."
Thankfully, this process is veering away from the league's summer respite toward something tangible: Training camp. It's only a few more weeks before stunningly lame group pics with the Bieb bleed into a legitimate quarterback duel set to decide whether Manziel or veteran Brian Hoyer will lead this team into Pittsburgh come Week 1.
The latest "Around The League Podcast" makes sense of the Andre Johnson situation and pitches ways to fix the "Top 100."
