The 2015 NFL Scouting Combine began Wednesday but the only workouts were at the microphone.

The vast majority of the players who came through the media room at Lucas Oil Stadium were relatively low-ranked offensive linemen and specialists. The bigger news came from the myriad of NFL head coaches and general managers who entered for 15-minute press conferences, fielding questions from national media.

One of the most fascinating elements of the Scouting Combine each year is the strategy NFL personnel take during the interviews. Some clubs preach transparency. Others play things very close to the vest and may even exaggerate points to try to throw off the competition. Tactics employed by the Cleveland Browns, Chicago Bears, Tennessee Titans, Arizona Cardinals and Tampa Bay Buccaneers were particularly intriguing Wednesday.

Below are five of the highlights:

5. With quarterback Johnny Manziel currently in a treatment facility, Cleveland Browns’ head coach Mike Pettine confirmed that it is “probably accurate” that his team will go into free agency and the 2015 draft looking for a potential starter at quarterback.

“That’s probably accurate just because you look at the uncertainty of where (Manziel) is,” Pettine said. “Just given the small sample size we still don’t know based on what he was going through whether or not he is that answer. There’s too much unknown. I’d obviously be scared if we had a game this weekend. It’s a position we’re well aware of where our depth chart is. We’ll look to address it here in the coming months.”

The Browns could try to bring back Brian Hoyer for a reprisal of the same quarterback competition that played out last summer. Cleveland is also the only team with two first-round picks (12th and 19th overall), so a potential trade-up to land one of the top two quarterbacks is also possible.

4. Jay Cutler is just a season into a seven-year deal but first-year Chicago Bears head coach John Fox offered just a lukewarm assessment of the talented quarterback and repeatedly refused to commit to him as the Bears’ starting quarterback in 2015. “I don’t think there’s any question there’s ability and talent there,” Fox said to one of several questions on Cutler. “There’s a lot more that goes into that. We’re evaluating that as we speak.”

Fox can be coy with his answers but Chicago general manager Ryan Pace’s compliments of his current starting quarterback were more backhanded than full endorsements.

“Cutler has outstanding physical talent, there’s no denying that,” Pace said. “It’s just getting to know the individual and all of the other intangibles that make a great quarterback. Again, that’s what we’re doing now. That really takes getting to know the person, right? So that’s the process we’re going through. Me and John have both been around all different kinds of quarterbacks, it’s just figuring out (Cutler) as a person.”

In the “actions speak louder than words” department, Pace also confirmed that the Bears met Wednesday with free agent quarterback Josh McCown, who was released a week ago by Tampa Bay. The Bills and Jets also confirmed meeting McCown, and reports indicated the Browns could do the same.

3. The Tennessee Titans own the No. 2 overall pick. The franchise took a similar approach, acknowledging some of the positives that Zach Mettenberger provided as a rookie in 2014 but also sounding eager to take a closer look at top quarterbacks Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota.

General manager Ruston Webster and head coach Ken Whisenhunt mentioned on multiple occasions their wish to be straightforward with Mettenberger. Webster said that he “was not able to give him a commitment (as a starter) for next season” and later acknowledged his frustration with injury-prone starter Jake Locker, who is slated for free agency.

“For us to move forward, the quarterback position has to be settled,” Webster said. “You have to know that (the quarterback) can go for 16 games.”

Whisenhunt sounded like a coach ready to hit the reset button in search of a franchise quarterback.

“That’s the thing in the NFL now, having one of those guys,” Whisenhunt said. “Trying to get one of those quarterbacks that can make a difference like that. Everybody is working to do that. We’re in a position this year where we have an opportunity to get that position settled for us.”

2. With Carson Palmer ahead of schedule in his recovery from a torn ACL and wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald agreeing to “essentially a two-year deal,” Arizona general manager Steve Keim was more excited about the state of his club’s offense on Day One of the 2015 Combine than most decision-makers.

He was much sharper with his critique on his club’s linebackers, however, showing rare transparency with his intentions to upgrade at the position.

“We drafted Kevin Minter in the second round a few years back and we have high expectations for Kevin,” Keim said. “But he’s got to step up his game. And we have to find a Will linebacker, we call it the ‘Mo’ in our system.”

Earlier Wednesday, Keim specifically noted that the Cardinals were looking to get more athletic at both inside and outside linebacker. He also heartily acknowledged the work done by then-defensive coordinator Todd Bowles (now head coach for the New York Jets), who slid rookie strong safety Deone Bucannon to inside linebacker in 2014 to help mask some of the club’s deficiencies at the position.

1. With Mike Glennon the only quarterback currently on the roster, it goes without saying that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will be adding to the depth chart in the offseason. But will the Bucs be looking for a starter? Questions about the top talents in the class of 2015 class dominated the interviews that Bucs’ head coach Lovie Smith and general manager Jason Licht held today at the Combine and after listening closely to their responses, I feel more confident than ever that the No. 1 overall pick is Winston’s to lose.

“All options are on the table, in terms of trading the pick, taking the pick,” Licht suggested. As part of the answer to the same question, however, he also noted that the Bucs collectively have identified a “favorite” already.

“Right now, we’d probably lean towards using the pick, but we’re going to let it play out here,” Licht said. “We have over two months yet, so it would be a little ridiculous to come out and say, ‘Well, this is who we want right now.’ We want to use every avenue that we have, every resource that we have in the next two months to make the final decision. But it would be an insult to sit here after two rounds of Draft meetings and watching every play of Lovie and I, or Jon Robinson, our personnel director, Mike Biehl, our college scouting (director), all of our scouts, to watch every play and say that, ‘Okay, we have two guys tied at the top.’ We have a favorite, but we want to let the process play out.”

Earlier, Smith juxtaposed the two quarterbacks.

“And what do you judge quarterbacks on?” Smith asked rhetorically, “Accuracy, decision-making, leadership, and both of these players … the two win football games. Jameis, and Marcus, they’ve won a lot of games. Jameis didn’t lose a game until the last one he played. That says a lot about him. We have two very good quarterbacks that both will have a lot of success in the league.”

Whatever team elects to “gamble” on Winston will have to feel confident in the leadership already in place. Licht seemed to speak to his comfort in this regard with his head coach.

“We are using a lot of resources – a lot – to dig into every player’s background, some more than others. I don’t want to get into the whole process here, but the fans can know that we will have – for lack of using the cliche – crossed every ‘T’ and dotted every ‘I’ before we make the decision,” Licht said.

“And keep in mind, our head coach is one of the finest human beings I have ever met, inside or outside of football. Character is very important to him, it’s very important to me, so we will make sure that the decision we make is best for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.”

Rob Rang is a senior analyst for NFLDraftScout.com, owned and distributed by The Sports Xchange in cooperation with CBSSports.com.