Whether or not the TMZ report is true that there are three anonymous starters on the Browns who think Johnny Manziel should be the starting quarterback, is immaterial.
 
The real truth will never be known, so it becomes a rumor mill of he-said, he-said, he-said.
 
But this much we do know: The Browns have major question marks about, and a dysfunctional relationship involving, the three most important positions on any NFL team – the head coach, the general manager and the quarterback.
 
Head coach Mike Pettine is staying with Josh McCown at quarterback because he never wanted the Browns to draft Manziel in the first place. McCown is his guy and he’s bound and determined to keep him in the lineup just so he can be proven right. Pettine is not going to let the truth and the facts stand in the way of his unwavering belief in a guy who, judging from his less-than-mediocre career, certainly doesn’t deserve such. What’s in the best interest of the team doesn’t matter to him.
 
General Manager Ray Farmer wants Manziel to play because he drafted him and is anxious to be proven right. What’s in the best interest of the team doesn’t matter to him, either.
 
Pettine and Manziel do not see eye to eye on much of anything, and don’t like each other.
 
You can bet that when Farmer returns next Monday from his four-game suspension for his involvement in Textgate, that he and Pettine will go at it hot and heavy concerning the quarterbacks. Farmer is chomping on the bit to give his two cents’ worth on the subject but has not been allowed to do so because of the suspension.
 
Unbelievable.
 
The head coach and the GM have to be on the same page for the team to have a chance to do well, but in Cleveland, those men aren’t even reading out of the same book.
 
Likewise, the head coach and the quarterback have to very good at what they do, and they, too, have to be on the same page. Sure, McCown and Pettine get along because McCown is glad that he can play poorly and still keep his job. Neither one is performing well.
 
At this rate, you have to wonder if Pettine and Farmer will make it through the season. The 1-2 Browns are coming off a miserable performance in a 27-20 home loss to the Oakland Raiders last Sunday and are now beginning what should be a very difficult part of their schedule.
 
Until the Browns solve these issues and everybody learns to check their egos at the door and play nice with one another, they won’t have success.
 
Until the Browns find a great GM who understands the importance of offense and passing in today’s game and drafts accordingly in the first and second rounds, they won’t have success.
 
Until the Browns find a great head coach and a franchise quarterback and they grow so close that they can finish each other’s sentences, they won’t have success.
 
It’s just common sense. You sure don’t need some TMZ report to prove it.