The Sports Xchange

BEREA, Ohio — When Cleveland Browns quarterback Josh McCown is cleared from the NFL concussion protocol system, expect a full-blown quarterback controversy.

Johnny Manziel, filling in for McCown, completed eight of 15 touchdown passes for 172 yards and two touchdowns in Sunday’s 28-14 win over the Tennessee Titans.

Flashing the entertaining style that earned him a Heisman Trophy at Texas A&M, Manziel He threw a 60-yard touchdown pass to Travis Benjamin on the Browns’ second offensive play and a 50-yard scoring pass to Benjamin to seal a 28-14 victory with 2:52 left.

Nobody expects Manziel to average 55 yards a touchdown pass every time out, but the important take-away from this game is that he did not force any passes. When the coverage was tight he was content to throw the ball away. Even so, he might be back on the sideline when the Browns host the Oakland Raiders on Sept. 27.

Head coach Mike Pettine said he might know on Tuesday whether McCown will be cleared to practice on Wednesday.

“We’re going to meet on that tonight,” Pettine said on Monday. “To me, that’s standard. That’s our weekly meeting where we evaluate every position and where are we.

“But until Josh is cleared there’s not much thought process there just because (Manziel) is the starter right now with the fact that Josh is out. But we’ll have the ‘what-if’ discussion tonight and we’ll see where that takes us.”

Manziel fumbled twice against the Titans but right tackle Mitchell Schwartz recovered one and running back Duke Johnson recovered the other. Last week Manziel lost two fumbles and threw an interception.

Manziel practiced sparingly leading up to the opener against the Jets. He was not prepared when he had to sub for McCown when McCown was hurt on the first series. Manziel practiced all last week with the first team and it showed in the way he played against Tennessee.

“To get to 1-1 is awesome for us,” Manziel said. “I, personally, first win at home, season opener, it was a pretty awesome script for me. It’s satisfying seeing the rest of the guys in the locker room, being able to be in there, all those guys dancing, getting the first win of the season and getting a win that we really needed.”

Manziel said he will go along with whatever the coaches decide if McCown is cleared and is named the starter.

REPORT CARD VS. TITANS

–PASSING OFFENSE: B – Johnny Manziel looked like a quarterback in control after a week of practice with the starters. He did fumble twice and got lucky because the Browns recovered both times, but his deep throws to Travis Benjamin were on the money for touchdowns of 60 and 50 yards. He did not throw an interception. Instead of running at the first sign of trouble he was content throwing the ball out of bounds if his receivers were covered.

–RUNNING OFFENSE: B-minus – The Browns dedicated a large portion of practice last week to improving the run. Specifically, they wanted the offensive line to be more physical and they wanted the running backs to hit the hole when it was there. Both things happened. As a result, Isaiah Crowell rushed 15 times for 72 yards with a long run of 15 yards and an 11-yard touchdown run. Rookie Duke Johnson picked up 43 yards on 12 carries. Neither back caught a pass.

–PASS DEFENSE: B: The Titans scored two passing touchdowns in the second half, but except for those two plays the Browns made it a long afternoon for rookie quarterback Marcus Mariota. They sacked him seven times and forced three fumbles. Mariota had a passer rating of 96.3 but that does not reflect how well the Browns played. Only one of Mariota’s completions netted more than 20 yards.

–RUN DEFENSE: C-minus: The Browns allowed 154 yards on the ground in the opener and 166 yards to the Titans. Tennessee stayed patient with the running attack in the second half and cut the Browns lead to 21-14 with 6:42 left. The Browns can’t say they were soft against the run because they were trying to prevent the big play. Dexter McCluster rushed for 98 yards on 10 carries. The Titans did much of their damage to the outside, just as the Jets did.

–SPECIAL TEAMS: A – It will be difficult for the Browns to play much better on special teams than they did against the Titans. Travis Benjamin returned a punt 78 yards for a touchdown and totaled 76 yards on five other returns. Punter Andy Lee was superb, punting six times for a 53.2-yard average. Rookie Travis Coons kicked off five times and each resulted in a touchback. Shaun Draughn had only one opportunity to return a kick and ran it back 31 yards.

–COACHING: B – The coaches were clearly unhappy with the way the players on both sides of the ball performed in the opener. The players got the message because the offense and defense improved. The plan to confuse Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota gave the pass rushers enough time to get to him. The offensive line blocked better and offensive coordinator John DeFilippo convinced Johnny Manziel to not tuck the ball and run at the first sign of danger.