Mike Pettine: 'I'm not concerned'
— -- BEREA, Ohio -- No crime, no foul.
That's the word from Mike Pettine, who continues to stand strong by his position that he will not micromanage the players away from the facility. So Johnny Manziel in Austin, Texas, floating on a swan and spraying champagne at a pool party is simply life with Johnny.
"I'm not concerned," Pettine said Tuesday after the Cleveland Browns minicamp practice. "I would become concerned if it was something criminal, and I would be concerned if it affected his job.
"I I think a lot of our guys, when they leave here if they were followed around, you'd get some very similar pictures. I don't know about an inflatable swan, but I think you'd get some pictures."
Pettine hosted a Clinic during the weekend at Central Bucks High School in Pennsylvania. Pettine, defensive coordinator Jim O'Neil and linebackers coach Chuck Driesbach went to school there and were part of a group of seven assistants taking part in the clinic.
"I was involved with an event this weekend," Pettine said, "and if there were cameras at certain times it probably wouldn't have been the most flattering. We had a good time but we were responsible. When it becomes irresponsible or it becomes part of something that involves breaking the law or we feel is a potential problem. we'll step in."
While the Browns say they will not micromanage their players away from the facility, they seemed to do just that this week with the quarterbacks when they decided neither Manziel or Brian Hoyer would be available to assess where they are as they head to training camp in late July.
"They had been made available," Pettine said. "I don't think the message will be that different from it was before. It's something in our rotation of things that we didn't feel needed to be done."
The NFL media policy allows the team flexibility in deciding if a rookies should be available during a mandatory minicamp. It also states that "players" must be made available during that time.
However, it does not say "all players." The Browns counter by saying they are making "players" available.
"I understand the balance (between interest and the team)," Pettine said. "Personally my feeling on that is I'm going to err toward the side of the team, if it's close or even to the middle. That's the approach that we discussed as a staff and that's the way we decided to go."
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