Browns coach understands NFL is bottom-line business

By MARY KAY CABOT

The Plain Dealer

BEREA

Coach Mike Pettine appreciates the support from Johnny Manziel and other key veterans who have called for the Browns to keep him, but he also reiterated it’s a bottom-line business.

He said he wasn’t surprised that Manziel called for the Browns to keep the coaching staff and the players, because he believes there’s a mutual respect even though he benched Manziel after the bye week.

“It just reinforces what I’ve said all along from a personal standpoint, he and I get along very well,” said Petitne. “If you just eliminate that incident where I felt like I was doing my job and doing what was best for the team — and doing what was best for him — and hopefully he respects that but I also know that from an interaction standpoint, when he’s here, I have a ton of respect for him because of A. what he’s gone through personally and B. how he has earned the respect of the guys around him.”

Pettine stressed that the veterans’ support of Manziel speaks volumes.

“They see him ultra-prepared,” said Pettine. “They see him seamlessly calling plays in the huddle and getting guys lined up and knowing where to go with the ball and doing his job that there’s no substitute for hard work to get to that point and he’s put it in. He’s done it. So from a coaching staff standpoint, the football trust is there. We all know about the hiccup but the football trust is there, so it’s not surprising. I’ve said it up here: he and I have a very good relationship. (Quarterback coach) Kevin O’Connell, (offensive coordinator) John DeFilippo, it’s all very positive with the quarterback room and I would be surprised if that wasn’t a two-way street.”

Pettine, who spoke with Browns owner Jimmy Haslam on the field before practice, acknowledged it’s good to hear team leaders such as nine-time Pro Bowler Joe Thomas, tight end Gary Barnidge and safety Donte Whitner call for continuity in the program.

“As a coaching staff, you hope you’re running a program that the players enjoy being in and they respect the men that they work for and when you hear comments like that, it reinforces that but at the same time, we all know — I’ve said it a million times — this is a bottom line business,” he said. “It’s pass or fail and unfortunately we’ve failed more than we’ve passed and we also feel that we’ve planted some seeds for growth here.

“But as I stress to the players all the time, control the controllables and for us as a coaching staff, we’re going to prepare like heck to get our team ready for Kansas City and next week for Pittsburgh and we’re going to coach our butts off and hopefully we can get our guys the same — preparing hard, practicing hard and as I said before, whatever happens, happens, but to answer your question it’s good to hear but still pressing forward for two more weeks.”

Pettine also received a show of support from Chiefs coach Andy Reid, who said on a conference call, “Mike Pettine is a good football coach. We run similar defensive schemes. I’ve coached against him when he was with the Jets and he was a high school in Philadelphia when I was with the Eagles. I know the stock he comes from. He’s a good coach.”