Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel didn’t take just a step, but rather a quantum leap, in the right direction when he came out in support of his coaches, saying he hopes they are retained so the club can begin establishing some consistency.

Whether those coaches – head coach Mike Pettine and his staff – really should be retained, is immaterial in terms of this discussion. So is Manziel’s sincerity. Who knows if he really means it? But that doesn’t matter, either.

 

What does matter is that Manziel said it. He said it emphatically, he said it completely and he said it at a time when the team – both the coaches and the players – are at a low ebb following a 30-13 loss to the Seattle Seahawks, dropping the Browns to 3-11 as they march toward earning the No. 1 overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft.

 

The frustration of all that is starting to show in a lot of different ways, as evidenced by an incident on the sideline in which rookie cornerback Charles Gaines pushed a respected leader in safety Donte Whitner. At least the corners are getting a little more aggressive as they learn the bump-and-run technique.

 

The quarterback, whoever he is, has to be the face of your team. As such, he has to be not just a leader, but THE leader – the undisputed leader.

 

Manziel hadn’t previously done much of that – any of that, really. It’s hard to be a leader when you get caught partying and telling tall tales about it, causing you to get demoted from starter to third stringer. But we all learn for our mistakes, and perhaps he has.

 

For Manziel to be the franchise quarterback for the Browns – or for any team, for that matter – he has to be the man on the field and off it, with what he does and what he says, perceptually and in reality.

 

So for Manziel to have the back of his coaches, especially Pettine, who hasn’t exactly had his back in the two seasons the quarterback has been in Cleveland, is a big, big deal. It shows some maturity. Manziel is trying to be a big man – the bigger man, as it were — about all of this, which is another thing for which he should be commended. Maybe Pettine could learn something. In the very least, he should appreciate the support and give Manziel a hearty and sincere thank you. He needs all of the support he can get.

 

Regardless, we’ll track the situation for these final two weeks of the regular season to see what happens. If nothing else, it’s a little ray of sunshine in what has otherwise been a dark and gloomy season for the Browns..