Manziel cheered as Hoyer led winning drive

Cleveland Browns quarterback Brian Hoyer meets with New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees after the Browns beat the Saints, 26-24.

(John Kuntz, The Plain Dealer)

BEREA, Ohio – The national sports media descends on Cleveland this week, but not for the reason some projected in June.

LeBron James and the Cavaliers – it still feels wonderfully weird to link those nouns – open training camp Friday. Meanwhile, his young friend and business partner, Johnny Manziel, remains the Browns' backup quarterback.

As hype surrounding his Cleveland arrival percolated in the spring, some analysts looked at the Browns' early schedule and speculated Manziel would be replacing Brian Hoyer during the bye week.

Three games into the season, Johnny Football has a better chance of unseating the long snapper than the quarterback. That's not a reflection on Manziel, but a testament to the play and pluck of Hoyer.

The only thing the St. Ignatius product has passed to his understudy is a football for a 39-yard gain nullified by an illegal shift last week against the Ravens. He continues to carry the torch for an offense that ranks among the top-15 in yards (362.7 average) and points (24.7).

The Browns are the only NFL team without a turnover.

Did anyone see this coming when they struggled to move the ball against the Rams' second-unit defense in the dress-rehearsal game?

"I think a big deal is made of the preseason," said Hoyer, who's 4-2 as a Browns starter. "There were a lot of interchangeable parts, myself included. That's going to happen, but when you really get into game planning, focusing on who's going to be out there playing things really start to come together."

The NFL's top-10 passer ratings include the Browns' Brian Hoyer.

Hoyer owns the league's 10th best passer rating (97.5) and a last-minute comeback win against the Saints.

Buoyed by a strong running attack, Hoyer and the offense have given the Browns (1-2) a chance at winning every game. They have supplied consistency lacking on defense and special teams and done it without All-Pro receiver Josh Gordon. The Browns scored 21-plus points in their first three contests for the first time since 1969, a year before the NFL had the audacity to schedule games on Monday nights.

Hoyer has been effective, but not good enough to mask the team's other deficiencies. He started slowly against the Steelers and could only move the chains once in the fourth quarter against the Ravens on a 70-yard pass to Taylor Gabriel. It couldn't overcome missed tackles in Pittsburgh or poor specials teams on Sunday as the Browns' squandered a four-point, fourth-quarter lead.

"He's played well," Coach Mike Pettine said. "He hasn't graded out 100 percent and he's his own toughest critic, too. ... I just think (quarterback coach Dowell Loggains and offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan) have done a good job not just with the quarterback but the entire offense of playing to our strengths."

One of Hoyer's biggest contributions can't be found on the score sheet or through advanced analytics. His steady play has, at least temporarily, quieted debate at the most important position on the field.

Imagine if the Browns (1-2) were failing to generate offense. We're not talking about Jason Campbell or Colt McCoy as the alternative. SportsCenter would air round-the-clock, roundtable discussions on the wisdom of playing Manziel. Herm Edwards would be sequestered in the Bristol studio.

A couple bad snaps from Christian Yount or poor outings from Joe Haden don't divide a locker room. A quarterback controversy, especially a high-profile one, has that potential. Hoyer's play is a blessing to Pettine and a new coaching staff, which has enough to tweak during the bye week.

It also allows Manziel time to acclimate himself to the pro game – he admittedly wasn't ready to start at Pittsburgh -- while getting on the field for the occasional play or two. Loggains said Hoyer's maturity and selflessness enables the staff to use Manziel in those instances without creating discord.

Quarterbacks aren't often considered grinders, a term more associated with the gridiron rank-and-file. Yet Hoyer's work rate, enterprise and attention to detail help compensate for physical tools he might lack. The Browns can run lots of no-huddle because their quarterback has a command of the offense and the ability to process all the moving parts.

He plans to spend his off weekend around the facility in preparation of a crucial five-game stretch: Tennessee, Pittsburgh, Jacksonville, Oakland and Tampa Bay. If Hoyer performs well, the Browns have a chance to head into the season's second half with a 5-3 or 4-4 record.

Oakland chose rookie quarterback Derek Carr as its opening-day starter. Jacksonville is giving Blake Bortles an opportunity. A Matt Cassel injury has Minnesota turning to Teddy Bridgewater.

The Browns, however, remain Hoyer's team.

Maybe he stumbles. Maybe the turnovers start and don't abate. Maybe he begins to play like the career backup he was until a year ago.

But the Browns have reached the bye week and Brian Hoyer is still the starting quarterback, his short leash growing longer with every performance.