The Sports Xchange

BEREA, Ohio — Johnny Manziel, praised for months for being a changed man after spending 70 days in rehab over the winter, was stopped by police in a traffic incident last week and now faces discipline from the Cleveland Browns and possibly the NFL.

Manziel was arguing with his girlfriend, Colleen Crowley, who accused him of hitting her “a couple times.”

Manziel admitted to drinking, but the police determined he was not intoxicated. No charges were filed, but the incident is a concern to the Browns because partying last year is what led Manziel to check himself into the rehab unit in Pennsylvania in late January.

Coach Mike Pettine expects the league to get involved, and Manziel could face possible suspension for personal conduct violations.

“The league gets involved when there are cases like this,” Pettine said on Monday. “I don’t know what their timetable is. I don’t know the specifics, but as with anything that comes up, there’s a reporting process you go through. I’m not privy to what their details are as far as timetable.”

When the Oct. 12 traffic stop was made public on Oct. 16, Browns general manager Ray Farmer issued the standard, “We’re aware of the situation. We take it seriously. We have no other comment at this time” statement.

Pettine on Monday would not reveal what if any punishment the Browns plan for Manziel. The Browns made him part of the active roster for the game against the Denver Broncos on Sunday, but Pettine said that should not be interpreted to mean the Browns are dismissing the incident.

“There’s accountability,” Pettine said. “Some accountability is public, some of it’s private. If you think that we’re just turning a cheek to this and ignoring it, you’d be dead wrong.”

Manziel used Twitter to downplay the incident.

“Colleen and I got into a dumb public argument on the way home Monday (Oct. 12) afternoon,” Manziel tweeted. “It probably looked more interesting than it was and I know I would stop and check if I saw a couple arguing on the side of the road. It was embarrassing but not serious.

“When we talked to the police and they realized everything was alright and I was sober, we went home together and everything is fine.”

INJURY REPORT: TE Rob Housler (hamstring) did not return to the game against the Broncos after suffering an injury in the second quarter and his status will be updated Wednesday. … LB Tank Carder (shoulder) will undergo tests. More information will be available Wednesday.

REPORT CARD VS. BRONCOS

–PASSING OFFENSE: C-minus. Quarterback Josh McCown turned the ball over three times, fumbling once and throwing two interceptions. An interception thrown with less than a minute to play cost the Browns a chance to win in regulation. McCown completed 20 passes, but nine of them went to the same receiver. Travis Benjamin. The plan was to throw the ball quickly to slow the Denver pass rush, but McCown was still sacked four times.

–RUSHING OFFENSE: D-plus. The Browns were going against the top-ranked defense in the league and had difficulty mounting a running attack. They carried 33 times, but their longest run all day was just 12 yards. Isaiah Crowell and Duke Johnson each had a 12-yard run. The Broncos did an excellent job preventing the Browns from getting to the second level and also neutralized passing the running backs; Johnson caught just three passes for 18 yards. He totaled 15 catches the previous two weeks.

–PASS DEFENSE: B-plus. The Browns intercepted three passes from Peyton Manning and held him to a 53.3 passer rating, but Manning still was able to burn them on a 75-yard touchdown pass to Emmanuel Sanders when the Broncos fell behind, 20-16. Pass rush has been a problem all season and that was exposed when Manning threw 48 passes without being sacked.

–RUN DEFENSE: C-minus. It is the same story every week for the Browns; they are guilty of giving up at least one long run and do a poor job of tackling even against a run offense that struggles. The Broncos were averaging only 77 rushing yards per game entering Sunday, but more than doubled that when they sliced the Browns up for 152 yards. Injuries are a big part of the problem. Starting inside linebacker Craig Robertson (ankle), cornerback Joe Haden (concussion) and safety Tashaun Gipson (ankle) were inactive.

–SPECIAL TEAMS: C-plus. Travis Coons hit his only field-goal attempt and is a perfect 12-for-12 on the season, but he produced no touchbacks on six kickoffs, which is abnormal for him. Despite that the Broncos averaged only 18.3 yards per return. Andy Lee, as usual, punted the laces off the ball. He punted seven times for a 46.0 average. He was upset with himself when a 60-yard punt bounced into the end zone for a touchback. Travis Benjamin turned the corner for a 20-yard punt return.

–COACHES: C. Defensive coordinator Jim O’Neil came up with a plan to keep Peyton Manning in check most of the day, but the inability to stop the run is growing tiresome. Offensive coordinator John DeFilippo made some questionable calls when the Browns had the ball first-and-10 on the Broncos 11 trailing 23-20 with less than two minutes to play. Instead of aggressively going to the end zone, DeFilippo called two short passes sandwiched around a run by Isaiah Crowell. The result was Travis Coons kicked a field goal on fourth-and-11.