Johnny Manziel knew the questions were coming. His solution in his first training camp press conference with the Cleveland Browns was to address the situation himself in his opening remarks.
"Me and coach (Mike) Pettine and (GM) Ray Farmer really talked about a lot of things that transpired over the course of the offseason," Manziel said Friday. "The main thing is people within this building, my teammates, the coaching staff, the higher-ups in this organization -- we've all been on the same page, we've all been good and we're very eager to be moving forward."
"At the end of the day, I've made some rookie mistakes, there's some things I wish I could have gone back and done a little differently, but continuing to move forward and try to represent this organization in a positive manner and a positive light."
Manziel wouldn't get off that easy, of course. His first question was in reference to a photo of Manziel in which the quarterback appears to be rolling up a $20 bill in a bathroom.
"I just spoke on that a little bit," Manziel replied. "I've talked about that with that coach Pettine, I've talked about it with Ray Farmer and the people I need to talk about that with and moving forward they're good with everything and I've told them everything that I need to and everything's been good."
Manziel acknowledged "rookie mistakes," but still defended his right to enjoy himself during his free time.
"I don't think there's anything wrong with me going out and having a nightlife and having a social life," he said. "I am 21 years old, and I do like going out. It was the offseason, free time for us, and if I want to go out, hang out with my friends or go to nightclubs or do things like that, I think that's within my rights to be doing that."
Manziel added that he doesn't view himself as an underdog in his summer competition with veteran Brian Hoyer and believes there's enough time to win the starting job out of camp. Pettine reiterated Friday that Hoyer will start the preseason opener barring an unforeseen setback.
Pettine said earlier in the week that the Browns will name their starter before the team's third preseason game. Manziel has less than a month to make his case.
*The latest "Around The League Podcast" recaps all the training camp buzz and previews the biggest NFC North and NFC South camp stories. *
