BEREA, Ohio -- In addressing a question about Johnny Manziel, the Cleveland Browns said much about their feelings toward Brian Hoyer.

A simple "what's next for Johnny Manziel" question was put to Cleveland Browns quarterback coach Dowell Loggains on Wednesday, as the team graciously made its assistant coaches available to the media.

Loggains answered with the obligatory "just get better ever day" statement. But then he added more.

"He's the leader of this team, he's been driving this team," running backs coach Wilbert Montgomery said of Brian Hoyer. AP Photo/David Richard

"Can you do this for six or seven weeks in a row and maybe not play as much as you want to?" Loggains said. "Because the kid is a great competitor and he wants to be there.

"It's understanding how to be a quarterback and how to learn and do all those things that he's going to have to do. It's just the process, the grind of that, fighting the boredom of sitting in a meeting room learning a game plan, memorizing a game plan, but not get to go execute it."

Not-so-hidden in that statement is a concession that the Browns quarterback position, which was so jumbled five or six weeks ago, has settled down.

And Hoyer has settled it down.

Nowhere in Loggains' assessment is there any indication that the team expects Hoyer not to play. It is his job at this point (barring injury), and the fact that it's being made so clear in the bye week is also important.

Because the scenario most painted prior to the season was that Hoyer would get the first three starts against Pittsburgh, New Orleans and Baltimore, that it wouldn't go well and the impatient Browns would make a switch during the bye week.

That possibility seems farther removed than the water pump station in Lake Erie is from shore.

"He's a pro," Loggains said of Hoyer (after he of course first credited Hoyer for managing the huddle well).

Loggains then admitted that Hoyer relaxed once the competition factor was removed. That has seemed evident, though Hoyer has always insisted he was never affected by the competition.

"This is becoming his team and he's taken ownership of it," Loggains said.

Keep in mind that Loggains thinks so highly of Manziel that he said on Arkansas radio shortly after the draft that Manziel could immediately be one of the most exciting players in the league.

But Hoyer has thrown 95 passes without an interception, and he has a 95.7 rating. He struggled at the end of the Baltimore game, but also completed 16 in a row at one point. He's also guiding a Browns offense that has scored at least 21 points in each of the first three games for the first time since 1969.

The one thing he hasn't done is win every game, though the Browns were in every game. The lingering question is what happens with the quarterbacks if Hoyer keeps playing well without winning? That, though, is conjecture. Because Hoyer has done his part to silence the post-bye-week-change chatter.

An interesting reality is that when Manziel was drafted, almost every one of the team's holdovers stood up for Hoyer, saying they did not expect him to lose the job.

He raised questions at parts of training camp, but in the end he earned the starter's job and now has "run" with it. And he did it knowing full well that Manziel was waiting to take over.

"He's the leader of this team, he's been driving this team," running backs coach Wilbert Montgomery said. "You have to be proud for Hoyer himself."