Johnny Manziel wants you to know he did not throw a party on Friday night.
The rookie quarterback said his night prior to showing up late for a Saturday treatment session at Browns headquarters included just three friends visiting from Texas. Manziel took issue with speculation that Josh Gordon -- suspended in Week 17 for missing the Browns' Saturday walk-through -- partied with Manziel before his no-show.
Manziel said he did spend some time with Gordon on Saturday, but not at night. He also acknowledged breaking team rules is a very bad look for a rookie who has done nothing to dispel lingering immaturity concerns.
"I brought this on myself. I brought these cameras and all these people that are in this locker room right now and I don't think it's fair to myself, I don't think it's fair to anybody in this locker room the distractions I've brought at points in time," Manziel said Monday, according to The Plain Dealer.
"So I'm sorry to these guys that are veterans in this locker room and know what it takes, that I'm having to learn the hard way. At the same time, I'm either going to learn or I'm going to be finding something else to do."
Manziel said he overslept after staying out too late on Friday. He then offered a blunt self-assessment.
"There's nothing I can sit here and tell you," he said. "I can't sit here and talk to these mics or these cameras or anything that's going to do any good. It's about actions, it's about being accountable and doing what I'm going to say instead of looking like a jackass."
Browns coach Mike Pettine didn't put Manziel's transgression in the same category as the actions of Gordon and Justin Gilbert (who was deactivated Sunday after showing up late for a team meeting), but he said that quarterbacks are seen differently.
"I'm not writing off his behavior as acceptable -- it is unacceptable," Pettine said. "Especially, we said that we hold the quarterback to a higher standard than everybody else. That just comes with the territory, the position. Has his behavior been disappointing? Absolutely.
"We're going to take our time here. We're going to step away from the emotion of it all, get some time off, come back. We'll have all the players written up and evaluated, and in a much less emotional environment, evaluate the roster, talk about each position, what changes need to be made."
It's pretty much official: Johnny Manziel's first season in the NFL is a dumpster fire. Being a first-round pick affords additional rope, but Jimmy Haslam's comments Sunday tell us the organization is extremely displeased with the behavior of some of their highest-profile players and could be set to take drastic measures.
If Manziel doesn't shape up, his Browns career could be over in a blink.
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