On QB Duke Johnson Jr. not throwing today in practice:
"Yeah, he had some stiffness and soreness in his elbow. It just comes from the high volume of throws. He has obviously worked very, very hard every day, not only in camp but prior to camp to be ready. With that comes – sometimes you have to help a guy out from when he is working as hard as Johnny is to just take a day. He had a heck of a day mentally, mental reps behind (QB) Josh (McCown), (QB) Connor (Shaw) and (QB) Thad (Lewis). It was a good day from that standpoint. We are expecting him to be ready to roll."
On if he could tell Manziel's elbow was bothering him:
"Having been there before and been that guy that tried to stay extra and throw to the younger receivers and all that stuff, I am constantly asking the four guys about how they are feeling and throw counts and all that stuff. I think it is something to monitor. We try to do that. When there is a situation where something turns into soreness or stiffness in any of their shoulders or arms or whatever it may be, we are going to do whatever we can to get them comfortable again."
On if there is anything serious concerning with Manziel's elbow:
"Depending on how a guy throws the football and we are all different, different levels, some guys get shoulder soreness. Some guys get elbow [soreness]. There is really nothing to make of that, other than the high volume of throws in a short amount of time."
On what he has liked that Manziel has done or done better:
"As far as doing better, -- all I can speak of is from the day I came in in the spring and we finally got the players in the building. From day one in the building in the classroom he has been phenomenal around (QB) Josh (McCown), the other quarterbacks, myself and Coach DeFilippo (offensive coordinator John DeFilippo) , as far as just digesting. Whether it is install one to specific situational work to a protection, he is doing everything on a daily basis that we are asking of him and then some within the confines of the rules and really just starting to flourish in playing the positon with all things included: protections, adjustments, blitz pressures, what the defense is trying to do to you and how do I play off that and put my teammates in a situation to be successful on a play-to-play basis. I would probably put all of that into one. To make a long story short, he is just approaching every day as a pro. He is getting better and he is just a talented guy."
On if he has done anything with Manziel's mechanics:
"With all the quarterbacks, we talk a lot about their footwork and their base being the foundation for what they do and really using their legs to make throws and letting their legs help them decide if a guy is open or not. If the timing is not right with the play, I think the one thing all four of the quarterbacks have done is find completions and understanding the power of completions no matter what they play is and what the situation is. When you have play makers like we do, if you can just put the ball in play a lot of times, find a completion and good things are going to happen."
On the characteristics of McCown that give him hope that the team can win with him as QB:
"From Day 1, Josh – the intangibles are off the chart. That is no secret. I think physically he has been tremendously athletic. He has been tremendously accurate with the football. His pocket movement has improved on a daily basis, and it was already something he was pretty good at to begin with. His work ethic on a daily basis, setting the tone for that quarterback room, is something that is not only going to help our quarterback room but is going to help our entire football team, offense and defense. Everybody seems to respond to the tempo that Josh McCown sets on a daily basis and I think that is one of the things that has us really excited about him."
