Why Browns need to name Johnny Manziel starting QB

If Mike Pettine truly meant it last week when he said  Johnny Manziel’s demotion was not a “dead end”, now is the time to show it.

Pettine needs to put Manziel back in the starting lineup.

With veteran Josh McCown’s season over with a broken collarbone, Pettine’s choice is between Manziel and Austin Davis, and for the sake of the Browns'  immediate and long-term plans, this shouldn’t be much of a choice.

For once, this has to be a football decision regarding Manziel.

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That hasn’t always been the case, and certainly wasn’t last week, when Pettine demoted Manziel from starter to third-string after he reportedly lied to the coaching staff about his bye-week antics.

But now Pettine’s job security might come down to winning games over the final month of the season – so does he want to go into a daunting final five weeks (four of the Browns’ last five opponents currently have winning records) with Manziel or Davis?

Pettine might not be able to trust Manziel off the field, but he needs to trust him on it.

In his limited opportunities in relief of McCown this season, Manziel has shown significant on-field progress from his disastrous rookie year. And with the Browns likely to be picking high in the draft next year, they need to know if they need to invest yet another first rounder in a quarterback.

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If Pettine does choose to go back to Manziel, the quarterback must realize this could be his last chance with the Browns. He needs to play like he did in a September start against the Tennessee Titans, or in his last game, when he threw for 372 yards with one touchdown and one interception against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

But mostly, he needs to show that he can give Pettine - and the organization - reason to trust him.

Follow Lindsay H. Jones on Twitter @bylindsayhjones