Cleats remind Hoyer of journey

Associated Press

BEREA

They are barely visible in the back of Brian Hoyer’s locker, buried under caps, shirts and a knee brace.

At first glance, they appear to be ordinary cleats. However, these are symbolic.

They are the shoes Hoyer wore last season on Oct. 3, when the Browns quarterback tore knee ligaments while sliding at the end of a run against the Buffalo Bills. The injury ended Hoyer’s season and threatened his career, but instead of throwing out the grass-stained cleats, Hoyer hung on to them as a reminder of his comeback.

And as he prepared to play in his first Thursday night game since that fateful game a year ago, Hoyer joked about the keepsakes.

“Maybe I’ll wear them this Thursday,” he said with a smile before practice.

Although the cleats may have contributed to Hoyer’s injury, he won’t part with them.

To him, they represent the end of one chapter and start of another — his personal halftime.

“It’s just a significant moment in my career,” Hoyer said.

“Everything that led up to that moment — really I blame the cleats because my cleat got stuck in the ground — maybe it was the grass. But I think to keep that and realize that getting to that point in my career, it took everything to get to that point, and then to keep those because that’s kind of the second part of my career.”

Hoyer could be facing another pivotal moment in his football life when Cleveland (5-3) faces AFC North-leading Cincinnati (5-2-1) on Thursday at Paul Brown Stadium.

For the Browns, this is a chance to validate a surprising start aided by a favorable schedule the past few weeks. For Hoyer, it could mean much more.

Although he’s 8-3 as Cleveland’s starter, it’s still not clear if Hoyer will be Cleveland’s quarterback beyond this season. He’s in the final year of his contract, and with first-round draft pick Johnny Manziel backing him up, Hoyer’s future with the Browns remains cloudy.

NOTES

With suspended Pro Bowl WR Josh Gordon due back in two weeks, GM Ray Farmer said it’s not a certainty he’ll be given a major role when he returns. “He is a talented young man and he can do a lot of good things,” Farmer said. “But do you kind of disrupt what you are to just make sure that one person gets the ball? Teams win. Talent doesn’t. It’s really about building a team and people have to find a way to fit into the team.” ... Browns coach Mike Pettine said WR Andrew Hawkins will be a “game-time decision” with a leg injury. ... Pettine said it’s possible TE Jordan Cameron (concussion) could return to face the Bengals.