Josh McCown Comments on Competing Against Robert Griffin III, Johnny Manziel

Cleveland Browns quarterback Josh McCown didn't sound like someone resigned to a reality of relegation while speaking at length Thursday on PFT Live about the team's perpetually unstable situation at his position.

Despite Cleveland signing Robert Griffin III in March and holding the No. 2 overall pick in the 2016 NFL draft, McCown feels he will have a chance to start for the Browns this next season, per Pro Football Talk's Michael David Smith:

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Right now, it's come in and compete and show up, so that's what I'll do. If that changes, that changes, and I'll go to that next place and compete there as well... I'll go with that mindset, and if they see differently and I am traded or moved along, I'll appreciate my time there and then go embrace the next opportunity.

[...]

You want to compete and you want to have a shot to play, and so if a guy comes in and he's perceived to be the starter, as a competitor, you don't like that. But at the same time, understand that when you go through a coaching change and a restructuring of the organization, they're going to do whatever they can to help this football team be better. And so as a Cleveland Brown, I'm all for that and I'm behind that 100 percent, so we welcome Robert into the quarterback room as a part of our team, and I'll do everything I can to help Robert.

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The balance of competitive fire and willingness to mentor is what made McCown such an attractive QB to bring aboard last offseason. Injuries derailed an otherwise solid 2015 campaign in which the 36-year-old registered a 93.3 passer rating in eight games with a below-average receiving corps.

Another reason to take McCown at his word based on his comments about Griffin is the exemplary job he did last year in handling the circus that was Johnny Manziel's tenure. The former Heisman Trophy winner showed massive improvement on the field, likely thanks to McCown's imparted wisdom.

But Manziel couldn't keep himself in check off the field, leading Cleveland to release him on March 11. McCown also spoke optimistically about Manziel's NFL future on Thursday, per Smith—provided the 23-year-old makes football his predominant focus:

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He has to eliminate distractions. All the things and people around him that don't help him move forward as a quarterback, he's got to eliminate them, get rid of them, they can't be a part of his life anymore.

[...] 

I spent a year with him, and mentally and physically, he can do it. But he's got to eliminate distractions and he's got to move forward, and he’s got to ask himself, 'Do I love the game?' If ultimately, in his heart, he doesn't love the game, he's going to split his time between all these other things and trying to be good at football, and it's just a hard sport to do that with.

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Arguably no one thrust himself into the spotlight quite the way Manziel did when he thrilled the college football world with his flashy antics and high level of play in two sensational seasons at Texas A&M.

When the Browns brought Manziel in as the 22nd overall pick in the 2014 NFL draft, though, they couldn't have imagined much more of a worse-case scenario than what unfolded. He wound up not being the potential franchise savior Cleveland has sought since 1999.

Now it's up to another former Heisman Trophy winner in Griffin to do what Manziel and many of his predecessors couldn't. Griffin is also no stranger to public scrutiny and didn't seem to take it well, going from Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2012 to not playing a single down for Washington last season.

McCown is a bit too far along in his career to be a long-term solution under center for the Browns. He also has to be feeling a sense of urgency to play more before his playing days are over.

Complicating matters is the aforementioned draft asset Cleveland has. It could still take a QB such as Carson Wentz or Jared Goff No. 2 overall, creating competition for Griffin and relegating McCown to a possible third-string pseudo-coach role—barring a trade or a release.

That scenario isn't likely something McCown is all too interested in, but his remarks from Thursday suggest he's at peace with whatever happens. One thing is certain: The Browns' omnipresent turmoil at their most important position persists.