The Facts: Following up on the ongoing story. ... Manziel issued a statement on Friday to address his offseason stint in a drug and alcohol treatment facility. "I would like to thank my family, friends, the Browns organization, my teammates, and Browns fans everywhere, for your patience, understanding, and support during my stay at Caron," Manziel said, through the team. "I owe private apologies to a lot of people that I disappointed but a very public one to the Browns organization and the fans that I let down. "I take full responsibility for my actions and it's my intention to work very hard to regain everyone's trust and respect."
Diehards Line:
The second-year passer now returns to the Browns facing an uphill battle to regain the starting job he was handed at the tail end of his rocky rookie season. Veteran Josh McCown has been inked as a safe if underwhelming placeholder under center, with the Browns in play to potentially move up in the draft to pick Oregon's Marcus Mariota. Manziel also has work to do inside the locker room after Pro Bowl left tackle Joe Thomas said last week that the former Texas A&M star "lost probably a lot of trust among the guys on the team last year by the way he handled himself once he became the starter." Still, barring a trade out of town, the Browns are set to give Manziel a shot to compete for the job many thought would be his at the start of last season.