Manziel will be making his third NFL start, replacing Josh McCown, who sustained a concussion last week against the New York Jets and has been following the NFL’s protocol on head injuries.

The Browns announced Manziel’s start before Friday’s practice was opened to the media.

McCown had been expected to practice, and coach Mike Pettine said if he did, the 36-year-old veteran would play against the Titans. Pettine will have an update on his quarterback following practice.

Manziel came off the bench last Sunday against the New York Jets after McCown was injured on Cleveland’s opening drive. Manziel threw his first career touchdown pass, but also committed three turnovers in a 31-10 loss.

Manziel has shown progress following a rough rookie season, which was followed by him entering a rehab facility.

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The Cleveland quarterback had been turning away autograph requests from the fan for about two hours Saturday during the third round when an exchange escalated in the pool area of the Four Seasons Resort where the PGA Tour event is held, Irving police spokesman James McLellan said.

The water bottled missed the 18-year-old male, and someone who was with Manziel pushed the fan, leading officers to intervene, McLellan said. The fan declined to press charges, and McLellan said no police report was filed.

Manziel, the 2012 Heisman Trophy winner at Texas A&M, was recently released from a 10-week stay in rehab and is going through offseason workouts with the Browns. He’s expected back in Cleveland this week.

McLellan said there was no indication Manziel had been drinking.

In November, a Browns fan alleged that he was attacked by ”Johnny Football and his entourage” at a downtown Cleveland hotel where Manziel was living at the time. McLellan said it wasn’t clear what caused the latest incident to reach a point where Manziel responded by throwing the water bottle.

”He threw it toward him but it missed him and I think it was just as much fault on the part of the person that was heckling him to escalate things to that point,” McLellan said. ”Johnny didn’t really have any kind of a complaint to make. If he did, he didn’t say anything.”

The Browns declined to comment on the incident, and his agent didn’t return text messages.

Manziel had a rough rookie season after the Browns drafted him 22nd in the first round in 2014. He was the backup to Brian Hoyer most of the season and played poorly in two starts. Now he’s the backup to Josh McCown as he tries to prove he deserves a chance to be the starter.

The 22-year-old Manziel hasn’t spoken to reporters since his release from a facility in Pennsylvania that specializes in issues with substance abuse. He has faced questions for several years about his active nightlife and was repeatedly photographed drinking alcohol during weekend trips to Las Vegas after he was drafted by Cleveland.

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AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP-NFL

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What else has given Pettine that sense? Manziel is “quiet” around the facility.

“That’s a position that can be frustrating,” Pettine said. “He’s preparing like a starter. It can happen in a span of one play. He has to be ready to go, has to be prepared. There’s no reason to believe that he’s not.”

Manziel, the only first-round quarterback from the rookie class who’s not currently playing regularly, has done what’s necessary to improve with limited reps in practice and film-room work. But going from a Southeastern Conference star quarterback to “standing there having to watch” is a tough transition, Pettine said.

“The competitor he is is one of the biggest reasons we brought him here,” Pettine said. “If he didn’t feel [frustrated], I’d be shocked.”

Manziel has publicly supported starter Brian Hoyer, who has guided the Browns to a 4-3 record while throwing for eight touchdowns and two interceptions. Manziel said last week he needed to “play my role of backup, and that’s that.”

Hoyer’s current role complicates the Browns’ interest in getting a full evaluation on Manziel. In practice, Manziel has shown “flashes” of first-round-level quarterback play, according to Pettine, who admits the Browns won’t truly know what they have in the former Heisman Trophy winner without significant snaps on Sundays.

“That’s a question we need to have answered, but it’s not something that you can force,” Pettine said. “Brian’s our starting quarterback. That’s a difficult thing to say, ‘Let’s just go ahead.’ All the games are meaningful. If it ever gets to the point where we’re potentially up big, down big, or if there’s a situation that calls for him to go in, we’ll get an opportunity to see him.

“But there’s a lot of football left to be played. You’re looking for an evaluation at some point, but I don’t think you can force it.”

The days of elite quarterbacks such as Aaron Rodgers and Steve Young sitting for years are scarcer than ever in today’s pressure-cooker NFL. Jacksonville’s Blake Bortles, Minnesota’s Teddy Bridgewater and Oakland’s Derek Carr are all entrenched as full-time rookie starters this year.

Pettine has seen teams make mistakes due to impatience, so his quarterback goals are simple and addressed daily.

“Who gives us best chance to win today? We’ll worry about tomorrow down the road,” Pettine said.

Pettine also had a good-humored line ready when asked about a Manziel tweet from early Monday morning stating “Legendary night,” with Browns running back Terrance West listed on the tweet.

“I don’t know if he was still up or whether he was waking up early and getting ready to come into work,” Pettine said. “We keep an eye on it. We’re not going to micromanage our guys out of the building. We expect them to be mature and handle themselves. If something is a cause for alarm, especially in season, we’ll address it.”

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