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CLEVELAND BROWNS
Johnny Manziel

Another Johnny Manziel video surfaces, but Browns coach Mike Pettine withholds judgment

Nate Davis
USA TODAY Sports
Will Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel make his ninth career start for coach Mike Pettine on Sunday?

Mike Pettine might only have one week left as head coach of the Cleveland Browns, but it appears he could have one more big decision to make regarding Johnny Manziel.

Yet another video of Manziel partying — this time on Christmas Eve — is making the rounds. The second-year quarterback, who spent much of the offseason in rehab for an undisclosed reason, has a beverage in his hand but isn't seen drinking.

Pettine said in a conference call Monday that he was aware of the video but hadn't seen it and wasn't prepared to rule on Manziel's status as the team's starter for the regular-season finale against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday.

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“Anytime there’s something with our players that casts them potentially in a bad light, whether it’s Johnny or any of our other guys, it’s certainly a concern," Pettine said. "I’m sure I’ll see it and have a discussion with him about it. These circumstances are different from the incident that occurred before, but I’m just not going to go into a ton of detail with it until I get a little bit more information about it. It’s something that I’m sure privately we’ll discuss, if it needs to be discussed.”

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The coach also served up plenty of praise for Manziel, who has won two of six starts this season but shown marked improvement in his play.

"If you go back to where he was essentially a year ago to now, he has covered a lot of ground personally," Pettine said. "We know there has been a setback or two there, but he has covered so much ground professionally, and it shows up in the results.

"He has bought into what we are doing. Professionally, he has been outstanding for us this year. That is why when you talk to our players in the locker room, they respect him because they are with him every day. They see it. They see his preparation. They see him in the huddle and the night-and-day difference calling plays, confidence, knowing what to do, knowing where to go with the ball, and they see how competitive he is, how much he cares."

Pettine, who claimed not to know if he'll be retained on the heels of a 3-12 season despite weekly meetings with owner Jimmy Haslam, didn't seem inclined to bench Manziel for the second time this year.

“Again, it falls back into not micromanaging personal lives," Pettine said. "It is very public, unfortunately. The thing that is disappointing is how public it becomes.

"We are going to sit down with (all players) before they get out of here and see where they are personally and professionally, and certainly Johnny will be no exception.”

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Follow Nate Davis on Twitter @ByNateDavis

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