Josh McCown Named Browns Starting QB over Johnny Manziel vs. Ravens

The Cleveland Browns announced Tuesday that Josh McCown will get the start under center when they take on the division-rival Baltimore Ravens on Monday. Austin Davis will now serve as the team's No. 2 quarterback ahead of Johnny Manziel, who had started the team's previous two games. 

Andrew Gribble of the team's website confirmed Cleveland's latest switch at the most critical position. Head coach Mike Pettine noted on Nov. 10 the Browns base their decisions on which quarterback they believe gives them the best chance to get the victory, per Pat McManamon of ESPN.com.

"Josh McCown started the season as our No. 1 quarterback," Pettine said. "He's been out due to injury and potentially is coming back. I get the call for, 'Hey, why not [Manziel]?' We're tasked as coaches to put the roster out there that gives us the best hope to win."

Manziel had a solid overall showing against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 9. He threw for 168 yards and a touchdown while adding 31 yards on the ground in the 31-10 loss. His lack of accuracy from the pocket remains a concern, however, as he completed just 15 of 33 throws.

He backed that up with another solid outing against the Pittsburgh Steelers. But it amounted to another blowout loss for Cleveland.

Here's how the quarterbacks' numbers stack up through 11 weeks:

Player	Comp. %	Yards/Att.	Total TDs	INT	Rating	QBR
McCown	65.0	7.5	12	4	95.2	52.8
Manziel	59.4	7.3	5	2	88.4	54.2

Off-field issues remain a problem for Manziel, though. On Monday, TMZ Sports posted details, including video, from an alleged weekend of partying during Cleveland's Week 11 bye. Pettine hinted that played a role in the decision, per Gribble:

"

Everyone in this organization wants what is best for Johnny just like we do for every player in our locker room. I'm especially disappointed in his actions and behavior because he has been working very hard. The improvements from last year to this year have been tremendous but he still has to consistently demonstrate that he has gained a good understanding of what it takes to be successful at the quarterback position on this level. It goes well beyond the field. We are going to continue to support him in every way possible, but at this point, we've decided it’s best to go with Josh as the starter going forward.

"

Pettine continued, according to Daryl Ruiter of 92.3 The Fan:

"

“We all know what happened and what got put out there and it’s led to much disappointment, frustration, however you want to term it. It was something that we felt had violated the trust that we had put in him before the bye coming out for the Pittsburgh game and it was the decision we made as a result of it.”

[...]

“It was a culmination of discussions that I had with [offensive coordinator] John DeFilippo and [quarterbacks coach] Kevin O’Connell, just looking at how we left before the bye week with Johnny and the mentality of where he was and the very positive conversations we had about now that he’s the starter, handling himself the right way,” Pettine said. “The bye week would be, I don’t want to use the word test, but that’s essentially is what it ended up being.”

"

Ultimately, McCown is viewed as the safer option when compared to Johnny Football, who's certainly more boom-or-bust at this stage of his career.

The question is how much longer Cleveland should remain in win-now mode. A five-game losing streak has left the team at 2-8 and almost completely out of the AFC playoff race.

McCown has played reasonably well when healthy, but at age 36, he's not the team's long-term answer at quarterback.

He has a good chance to make an immediate impact in his return as he faces off with a Ravens defense that ranks 24th against the pass this season.