WR Brian Hartline:
On how excited he is to go back to Ohio State:
"Yeah it is great. I am not really a nostalgic kind of person, but it will be cool to be back in there. I think for me it is just closer to home. I live in Columbus. It will be cool to grab some dinner and see everybody and then get back in 'The Shoe' for some fun. I kind of wish they would open it up for everybody to fill it, but I understand the logistics that go with that. I am looking forward to seeing a great crowd and compete and have some fun. I am looking forward to it."
On if he is developing chemistry with QB Josh McCown:
"You kind of hope that at some point. I know I am a newer guy. The other guys have been around. We are getting some good work in and getting a feel for each other. I am doing what I am told. He is doing what he is told. When we have some errors we will talk it out, so hopefully we don't do it again. This is the kind of the steps we have been following."
On if McCown's accuracy has surprised any of the receivers:
"No, I don't think so. It is a very favorable ball to catch. He throws a great football. It is easy on you. Again he is fun to play with. You guys see him how he communicates out there and talks to everybody and getting things situated. He definitely makes it easy on a lot of other guys."
On if he sees the same fiery passion he saw in QB Chad Pennington in McCown now:
"I think it is similar. Every player is different. He is very intellectual, both on and off the field. He is easy to talk to. He really cares about the success of the football team and the success every individual. The combination – he is just doing a great job."
On being a Canton kid that next week will get a chance to play in the Browns stadium:
"Again it is all a lot of fun. It is all a change. It has changed, but it just feels so natural. To me I feel like I am in my backyard out here with this kind of grass and the same feel as always, the temperature. For me it is nothing out of the norm, but like you said there is change. There are different logistics. Showing the stadium and doing different things. I think overall any time you get a chance to get on the field, whether it be Ohio Stadium or any other preseason game we want to work on something and get better as a team. That is what we will focus on."
On changing teams this offseason:
"For me, again, there are a lot of factors. Where you go? How you get there? Are you used to the area? There is a lot of favorable things that have helped me. I think it is easier than going to Oakland or San Fran. I am familiar. Off the field is definitely a little easier. I know the passion of the Browns fans, so the combination helps a little bit."
On what he has seen from unheralded WRs like Josh Lenz and Shane Wynn:
"And (WR) Darius (Jennings) is doing an awesome job too. There are a lot of guys competing for a few spots. I can't say enough about those guys. Darius is getting a lot better. Wynn is getting better. Lenz is always making plays. I think special teams will be a part of it. Their work ethic if it becomes a practice squad situation. They all work hard. They all want to get better. They are always feasting for knowledge and asking questions. It is still early, but there are a lot of guys doing a lot of good things."
QB Johnny Manziel:
On how training camp is going so far:
"It has been good. It has been a solid progression of getting better from day 1 to where we are now. I think that is all you can really ask for. I know from the quarterback positon the comfort level in the room – we all are getting more comfortable as the day goes on and that is a good thing for all of us."
On if yesterday and today were two of his better practices:
"Yeah better, but I still feel coming off the field the last couple of days that I am still leaving some things there that I want to do better. Like I said it is a night and day difference from last year. It is night and day from the first day even coming out here. I am pleased with the progression of getting better and coming out some of these days and having a high completion percentage and getting the ball where it needs to go. There are little things that are keeping me from taking another step. We have another week until the preseason game. These preseason games will be a good test to really evaluate that in a game setting."
On where on the field has he taken the biggest strides:
"These protections and progressions and everything is starting to become more second nature. It is not as much having to sit there and get enamored with the defense and everything. It is just point a guy and let's go. From there, make the calls that we need to make. There is not a lot of uncertainty out there for each guy that is under center right now."
On if it is nice that not all the attention is on him at training camp this year:
"100 percent. So nice. I think me and Coach (Mike) Pett were joking about it yesterday. It is nice to come out here and wear any kind of shoes I want and that is not the main story the next day. I don't have to have this, this and this. It is funny and we can look back on it now and laugh a little bit. Expectations in my corner and the hype and everything is a little bit tempered and down, and that for me is a good thing. Now I can come out and play and do my game and really get to learn. That is what I needed to do. I just needed to learn, be patient with this and the thing I am struggling with now is not to be too hard on myself. There are going to be some aches and bumps here, but when we go in, in the afternoon we are learning a lot from what is happening on the field, which is a great thing."
On how he thinks he has changed from last year:
"A year older and a year smarter. (I am) not a rookie anymore. I have kind of gone through the ringer in a year and got to see everything. Now it is – coming out here and getting better. There is not as much pressure or hype. I am just another guy on the team. I think everyone is responding well. I am just happy to be out here and come into work every day. It is a lot of fun. We have a lot of fun with the staff and a lot of fun with the guys in this locker room. I can honestly say going through these days is not a drag, it is not a grind, (but) it is a lot of fun."
On his relationship with QB Josh McCown:
"Josh is a great guy. We get a chance to have those east Texas roots. He is 20 minutes away from where I grew up. We have a lot of that Texas bond in common. More than anything Josh has been through this a lot. He is a savvy vet. A guy that I really like having around. (Josh and I) couldn't get along better."
On if he feels most comfortable in the shotgun:
"Yeah, I think we are doing a mix of both. There is some shotgun stuff mixed in there. We are going to have some plays under center. It is not just all (shot) gun when I am in there or anything like that. I feel comfortable in both regards for sure."
On playing with the ones tomorrow at the Orange and Brown Scrimmage:
"We will see. I just kind of go with the flow and whatever Coach Pett and Coach Flip (offensive coordinator John DeFilippo) say. If that is what he said then we will handle it as needed. It will be good to get in there with those guys. I have been taking some reps in walk-thru's with them and stuff like that. I wouldn't make a huge deal about it, but to get in and get some reps with those guys is always good."
On why he feels he has made that leap in terms of understanding protections:
"I think through the season last year I did get a chance to learn a lot. Slowly and surely and now I think through the offseason and having these guys here – they have really done a good job of pounding it home for us. At a point in time where you didn't know if you would really ever figure this stuff out. Now seeing what they were talking about and that it will slow down and it will get better. I think it just a process of not being overwhelmed with what the snap count is and what is this. That is what a lot of the rookie year is about. Coming from a guy who has never pointed a MIKE (linebacker), never known a protection or never done anything but snap the ball and go like we did in college. That is a huge jump. I don't know how many people understand that, but it is a big leap for sure."
On if he is having success because of the amount of time he puts in:
"I don't know if I can really pin-point that. I am in the building doing what I need to do. Last year was last year. I know things are going really well right now, so I want to keep this schedule up or sure."
On if he is more comfortable in this offense than the offense last year:
"I think it is just, like I said, I am not worried about the fundamentals of the offense – getting people lined up, worried about the snap count, worried about the protection, when we are hot, this and that. That is going to all come with the whole year and the whole process of getting under center and getting the whole progress and procedure that comes with breaking a huddle and going to the line of scrimmage. There are no more of those worries anymore. It is all just taking next level things. I think that year has helped solidify that and now we are getting into some second level stuff."
On working with John Gruden:
"It was really good. Coach Gruden has been a guy that, with me, the time I went on his show last year before the draft. He always told me if I ever needed anything or if I ever just wanted to get away, if I ever just wanted to go somewhere and talk football and get a chance to focus on football for a couple days and play some golf and have some fun then his phone would always work and he would always accept that. When I got a chance and had a couple weeks, a week free and didn't know what I wanted to do. What better time to come here the week before I get in the building a little bit and get it in a little bit on my own. To get to be around a guy like that was awesome. It was one of those things I really wanted to do and had the opportunity, luckily. I got to go down there for a couple days and talk ball and just get away, hit some drivers and play some golf and have some fun. I was really just trying to utilize him telling me that a year ago. It was awesome."
On how things off the field contribute to performance on the field:
"Off the field for me, right now is really simple. Its football right now and it'll be that way throughout the rest of the season. It was good to get a little 5 week break there throughout the summer and I got the chance to go home and spend some time with my family, everyone like that. Now it's a really simple schedule, just come to work every day, be in the building do what I'm supposed to do and everything else will take care of itself. Just do the next right thing and things will be good. That's where I'm at right now."
On being a backup QB:
"I'm definitely not getting caught up or enamored with the whole starter, backup role. When it comes down to through the preseason if I can go out and show what I can do and show that I'm improving, I want to do that. I want to show that I can really go out and play and that I'm making improvements and I'm making strides to get better. From there on Coach Pett (head coach Mike Pettine), everybody else, they make that call. I'm deferring to coach Pett on that and not getting too caught up in it because I think last year that was probably a little bit of my problem as well, getting caught up in the starters and the reps with the ones and the backup and all this. I'd never really been a backup before so, this year I'm definitely just trying to take a different approach and if I take care of my business and show that I'm getting better and go out in the preseason and play well then who knows what will happen."
On owner Jimmy Haslam's comments that the organization has not given up on him:
"It's incredible. I said this at the end of last season, it would be a little absurd for people to give up on me after the amount of time I did play. I was a rookie and I went through a lot of lumps, I took a lot of lumps and I think from when the season ended I did what I needed to do to put myself in the best position to make sure that I was good in every facet of my life moving forward. From there, to have- even through the season I had Mr. Haslam's support, I had Coach Pett's support I had everybody in this buildings support. To hear that re-solidifies that for me. Me and Mr. Haslam have an awesome relationship, he's been great to me from the day I walked in this building. It definitely adds a lot of security but at the same time I didn't feel like, after last year that that would be any different than what it was."
On if he had to find a new group of friends during the offseason:
"I'm going to try and leave my personal life and everything that's going on off the field just to that. I know that football right now is my life and football is what I'm doing and focusing on 95% of the time. There is a little bit of life out of here, whenever we get out from 8-10p.m., whatever it is. Off the field is off the field and for right now football is my life and I'm trying to make the most of it."
