CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Browns coach Mike Pettine said on a conference call today that a report that Johnny Manziel had moved ahead of Brian Hoyer in the quarterback competition is "untrue.''

He said there's no "clearcut favorite'' and that if there were, it would mean one of them isn't playing well, and that's not the case.

ESPN's Bob Holtzman reported Sunday morning that a team source told him that Manziel had moved ahead of Hoyer.

Pettine said he doesn't know where that came from, because only three people know where things stand and they haven't talked to anyone about it: Pettine, offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan and quarterbacks coach Dowell Loggains.

He said he hasn't named a starter for the ESPN Monday Night Football Aug. 18 game against the Redskins, despite a report Saturday night by NFL Network that he had decided on Manziel for that game.

He complimented both Hoyer and Manziel for their performances on Saturday night in the 13-12 loss to the Lions, saying they both had reason to be nervous and both settled in quickly and got more comfortable as their outings went along.

He said Hoyer started out camp ahead because of his experience and "he's done nothing to have that taken away from him.'' He acknowledged, however, that Manziel has shown "a lot of improvement.''

He added that in an "ideal situation,'' he'd still prefer that Manziel watch and learn behind a veteran.

He acknowledged that Manziel has a "skillset that we want to take advantage of'' and that him taking off and running is "definitely a work in progress, but he's shown improvement.''

He said he'd still like to name his starter by the third preseason game, "but it's not 1,000 percent etched in stone.''

He said the fact that both quarterbacks had solid debuts "is a good problem to have.''

He also noted that Hoyer and Manziel will continue to split reps with the first team in practice this week.