The Cleveland Browns still have one more game to play, but Johnny Manziel is already thinking about next season.
Sidelined by a hamstring injury after just six uninspiring quarters as the team's starting quarterback, Manziel told reporters Tuesday that he wants to be "the guy" in Cleveland.
"I have to take this a lot more seriously. It's a job for me now," Manziel said, vowing to spend more time in Cleveland this offseason than he did during last summer's bikini-filled, Gronk-inclusive, celebrity-fueled jaunt across America.
"I'm not the guy that I've always been," the rookie said. "I'm not the Johnny Manziel that came in here a year ago."
Acknowledging that he hasn't "painted the greatest picture" of "staying on top" of the job, the former Texas A&M star promised that the "college mindset" he embraced for much of his debut campaign "is absolutely faded from my mind."
What's woken Johnny? Perhaps the realization that Cleveland's front office might already be considering other options at quarterback. Maybe a veteran passer, maybe another draft pick -- maybe the reanimated form of Otto Graham brought back to consciousness -- but something to save this team's two-decade-long debacle under center.
Outside of his frantic scoring drive against the Bills, Manziel showed no hints of being that savior during his brief stint as an NFL starter. Still, the first-round passer with the sky-high Q-rating and subterranean Total QBR score believes he deserves another shot.
"I don't think it'd be fair," Manziel said, "to give up on somebody after seven quarters of football."
That's a fair point. We'll find out this offseason if the Cleveland Browns agree.
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