BEREA, Ohio -- Johnny Manziel got a taste of the field last week in Buffalo and loved it. Loved the roar of the crowd, the smell of the turf, the feel of diving into the end zone and rubbing those fingers together in the money sign for the first time after his touchdown.

Understandably, he wanted more. He is Johnny Football afterall, not Johnny Backup.

But the Manziel era in Cleveland Browns football will have to wait -- at least another week -- now that coach Mike Pettine has declared Brian Hoyer the starter for Sunday's game against the 8-4 Colts.

"Obviously, that's a decision that's made by coach Pettine and this week his answer was, 'no,''' said Manziel. "Moving forward, whatever transpires, maybe next time the answer will be, 'yes.'''

Did he think he was going to be man after Pettine told the world the door was definitely open for a quarterback change?

"No, I didn't' have a feeling either way,'' said Manziel. "I felt like I came out and did what I was supposed to do and be prepared and come into the game and be on the field and be competitive. That's what I wanted to do and I want to show through practice even after this that my mood hasn't changed and I'm not taking this lightly.

"All this is going to do is motivate me to come in here to work every day, come to practice and continue to elevate my game to where next time where there's a situation like this that there's maybe no doubt."

Pettine broke the news to Manziel and Hoyer Wednesday morning in separate meetings.

"He called me in and kind of sat down and explained why and I was very understanding of that,'' said Manziel. "But I think I obviously came out last week and showed that I can come out and play a little bit and we had one successful drive and one that based off a bonehead play by me, one play kind of killed it, so some good things and some bad things taken away from last week and I think he just kind of re-iterated that.''

Manziel, who engineered an 80-yard TD drive capped by his own dive into the end zone from 10 yards out for the Browns' only TD in the 26-10 loss, admitted it was a blow. Afterall, he had friends in high places such as LeBron James championing his debut on twitter.

"Anytime you get a chance to go in like I did last week and then not get the nod the next, sure, I think just being competitive there's a little bit of disappointment,'' he said. "But at the same time I completely trust coach Pettine with this team and I think he's put us in the right situation moving forward consistently. And I think in his mind that's what he did this week so I trust coach Pettine and I'm back to doing my job like I've been doing in the last 14 weeks.''

Manziel was glad that he made Pettine wrestle with the decision for a couple of days. It means he's moving closer to the field, closer to becoming the Browns quarterback of the future.

"Hopefully, it was tough on them,'' Manziel said. "Obviously, he's a head coach, he's able to handle situations like that so hopefully I did make it hard on them and hopefully those guys see that when I come in here I'm very serious about this game and very serious about this team and more than anything, I want to win and that was a big disappointment obviously from Sunday and moving forward. But whatever and whoever puts us in the best position to win week after week, I trust coach Pettine with the decision and that's all anybody in this locker room wants."

Manziel has patiently waited his turn the past nine weeks, not seeing the field since Sept. 21 against the Ravens. But once he got the cleats a little scuffed and grass stain back on the jersey, he got the itch again.

"You know, it was fun,'' he said. "You come off the field last Sunday and you have kind of a new sense. It was my first snaps really in an NFL game, kind of getting the offense handed to me for those few drives and getting a chance to score my first touchdown in the NFL and that's a big deal for anyone coming into the league.

"I was extremely excited, but at the same time, once we moved on from that, we watched the film and put it behind us, and (I got) ready for the next week. And even though the past couple of days we obviously didn't know what was going to happen, you still prepare like you might be the starter.''

Manziel's scintillating 80-yard drive -- albeit against the Bills' late-game prevent defense -- had the coaches kicking around the Johnny Package a lot more these past two days. Even coach Chuck Pagano is bracing himself for it.

"He's a playmaker,'' Pagano said on a conference call. "He obviously went in and orchestrated a touchdown drive. (He's) one of the best improvisers in the game when he gets out there. We've seen it throughout his collegiate career. The guy can create, and we will play accordingly.

"We're planning on seeing him. We'll hopefully have a good enough plan in place to handle the situation if it comes up. He's got playmaking ability. He can throw the ball. He can run the ball. He can extend plays, and he can create. He's a dynamic, dynamic football player."



Hoyer had gone 1-for-9 in the red zone before in two games before Manziel hurled himself over the goal line.

"I need to continue to prepare like I have every week and now maybe even overly prepare a little bit now that I actually did get a chance to go in and broke the ice of sitting like I had for the first weeks of the season,'' he said. "So (it's) just continuing to stay ready and if I get thrown in there again, just be ready to come out and perform and have some success hopefully.''

He acknowledged that he's a victim of the rookies blues, where first-year quarterbacks tend to struggle and make tons of mistakes. Even Joe Thomas alluded to it Wednesday.

"When you start throwing guys out there and seeing what they can do, the message is, 'we're already playing for next year,''' Thomas said. "(It's) 'we don't think necessarily that we can get to the playoffs this year anymore.'''

Acknowledged Manziel: "I think that's part of it. I think you look around the league week after week and year after year and it continues with these rookies getting adjusted by making mistakes. I learned a little lesson obviously on Sunday and hopefully won't make the same mistake going forward.''

Coming so close to being named the starter didn't necessarily make Manziel feel there's light at the end of the tunnel, but "I see myself progressing as the year goes on and I feel like I'm seeing things a lot better. I'm getting used to the terminology and it's beginning to come kind of second nature. More than anything, I'm most excited about that.''

He also expects Hoyer to bounce back from his two-interception game in Buffalo.

"Obviously you can't tell how someone's going to play until the game actually comes, so we'll see on Sunday, but I know Brian's going to prepare this week like a pro.''

If not, Manziel will be ready to step in and do his Johnny Football thing.