BEREA, Ohio -- Browns owner Jimmy Haslam wanted to make one thing clear Wednesday when he met with the Cleveland Browns media: The Brown are not a dysfunctional organization.

To make the point clear, he said it over and over.

"I don't at all want people to think we think everything is great," Haslam said during a meeting with beat writers on Wednesday. "We don't. What I want you to understand is we do work together, it's not dysfunctional. ... We do get along, we do work well together and we have a common goal."

Haslam seemed stung and angered by reports and stories that painted the Browns as a chaotic group with employees anxious to leave because of people overstepping their bounds.

"[It] depicted a far different situation than certainly we feel every day when we come here and go to work," Haslam said.

But team president Alec Scheiner, who is in charge of the team's business operations, does watch game film with general manager Ray Farmer at 6 a.m. on Mondays.

"Everybody says, 'Why was the business guy watching film?'" Haslam said. "Well, let me ask you guys, if you had the opportunity to watch film with Ray on Monday, would you? Alec is a smart guy. He's one of the most competent guys in pro sports, not just the NFL. He wants to learn more so he sits in there. He's not critiquing Ray. He's listening to Ray's comments."

Haslam said he also invites Scheiner and general counsel Sashi Brown to sit in on some discussions within the organization that might not fall strictly in their job description.

"Rather than having two smart people in the room, we'll have four or five smart people in the room when we go to make decisions and set strategy," Haslam said. "Alec and Sash participate in that. I will grant it to say, and they'll quickly say they're not football guys.

"But they've been in the league for 10 or 12 years with different franchises. They've seen what those franchises do, good and bad. And they're very good and smart, strategic thinkers."

More than once, Haslam got a look on his face that indicated a question put to him was preposterous. One took place when he was asked if the business side of the team influenced the decision to start Johnny Manziel.

"That's crazy," he said. "It's crazy."

He added, referring to coach Mike Pettine, that "he -- OK? Get that? He made the decision to change quarterbacks."

Implying that the business side interferes with football is "very, very, very unfair to Alec."

Haslam also asked incredulously, "What do you think?" when asked who breaks the tie if he and Farmer disagree on a player.

"Ray's going to get that pick every time," Haslam said.

Haslam said the negative reports were like "getting sucker punched." He said he would stand by Farmer, who admitted sending texts in violation of league rules to the team owner.

"I think he's an exceptional human being," Haslam said of Farmer.

He added he would stand by Manziel, who is in rehab. And he insisted he did not interfere in the selection of Manziel last May.

"The organization agreed they were going to pick a quarterback," Haslam said. "Johnny was the highest-rated quarterback on the board at the time."

He termed the draft story told by former quarterback coach Dowell Loggains -- the "wreck this league" version -- as "inaccurate" but did not elaborate.

When asked why the team didn't know more about the off-field issues that led Manziel to rehab, Haslam said this: "I don't know how much of Johnny's personal life was known by everybody, and then I don't know how much is known now. I'll go back to what I was saying: prolific college career, and by almost everybody rated as a first-round pick."

The team later clarified via Haslam that he believes the team did its work, knew the background and chose Manziel based on all the knowledge it had.

Haslam said the team "absolutely" believes Manziel can succeed, and he believes the team has the right people running the team. He called a three-day summit meeting with Brown, Scheiner, Pettine and Farmer the best week he's had as a Browns owner.

From that meeting came firm resolve to move forward with the people and structure in place.

"You just have to fight through it," Haslam said. "Do I wish there was no news? Of course I do."