Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel didn't throw at Wednesday's practice and is unlikely to play Saturday at Tampa Bay, coach Mike Pettine said.
Manziel is dealing with a sore elbow on his throwing arm. He cut his throwing off near the end of Sunday's practice, did not throw Monday and was off with the rest of the team Tuesday. During the portion of practice open to reporters, he ran through all drills that did not involve throwing and watched intently from behind the other quarterbacks during the ones that did.
"Could he play if it he had to? More than likely but why do that in the preseason?" Pettine said. "If this was the regular season it might be a different story. We just want to be cautious and not have it develop into something that can continue to bother him throughout the year."
Pettine said an MRI of the elbow revealed no structural damage.
"This is something he has been dealing with since high school," Pettine said. "We just wanted to confirm that there was nothing structural and that is the case. The MRI was a positive result."
With Connor Shaw indefinitely sidelined because of an injured thumb, the Browns will have two quarterbacks at their disposal against the Buccaneers. Starter Josh McCown is expected to play his longest stretch of the preseason while Thaddeus Lewis will back him up.
Pettine did not rule out the Browns adding a quarterback to the roster in the near future but added the turnaround likely would be too quick to have a new signal-caller ready for Saturday's game.
In two preseason games, Manziel is 17-of-29 with 160 yards and a touchdown. He's also second on the team with 33 rushing yards and a touchdown.
"I just see it as a minor setback," Pettine said. "If this was something he had never experienced before or the MRI showed some damage I would be a lot more concerned. This being something he has dealt with before and we are confident that shutting him down maybe a little bit longer that it will all come back. Very pleased with where he is."
