Transcript of Brian Hoyer's Mike & Mike interview

Greenberg: "Your emotions as training camp is set to start? It's obviously been a very, very exciting offseason in the city of Cleveland -- for the Browns themselves: the selection of Johnny Manziel certainly had everybody talking; now LeBron James comes in -- so I have to believe there's an enormous electricity just around the city and around everybody there. What are your emotions as you get set to start training camp?"

Hoyer: "Yeah, for me I'm just excited to get back and play football. I'm coming off of an injury from last year and I was able to participate pretty much fully in the offseason -- there was some limitations: they didn't want anyone rolling into my knee or anything like that -- so I'm just excited to get back and play football the way it's meant to be played, and I know you guys mentioned the red shirts for quarterbacks, I mean, I'm almost ready to get hit at this point and just get it over with and get going."

Golic: "Yeah, I'm sure the coaches will feel the same way. I'm sure they'll say 'Yeah, go ahead and get hit out there in practice.' I don't think that's gonna happen."

Hoyer: "Nah, I'm just, it's just excitement for me at this point and I put a lot of hard work in to get back, as quickly as a I could from the injury and now, here I am, two days away, and just at this point trying to relax these last two days, spend some time with my family, because I know once Wednesday rolls around it's kinda like you're taking a deep breath and going under the water for about six months, so, I'm just looking forward to it."

Golic: "Talk about the mental part of this -- and now the name happened to be Johnny Manziel, but forgetting that -- you play a position and in the offseason your team picks that position in the first round. Immediately when that happened -- and that happens to be Johnny Manziel will count as a whole 'nother set of baggage that comes with it -- but just when a quarterback is taken in the first round and plays your position, what were your initial thoughts?"

Hoyer: "I kind of had an idea all along that they were gonna draft a quarterback: I think everybody knew we were gonna draft a quarterback, it was just a matter of where and when, so it was actually almost a relief that when it was over 'cause I knew exactly where it was and who it was gonna be that I was gonna be competing with and I think for me I've had to compete my whole career, whether it was at Michigan State to get the starting job or at New England to be Tom's backup that first year -- I had to compete with three other guys -- and so on. So, it's not anything that is a surprise to me and it was expected and I think people would have thought they would have been crazy had they not drafted someone because I have a limited resume and I'm coming off of a major surgery. I think everything was expected and now, like I said, it was kind of out there in the open, we know who it was, and then you get back to football and compete."

Golic: "In your circle of whoever your people are that you talk to and you listen to, when that happened and the quarterback was taken, what were their words of encouragement or what did they have to say to you about that?"

Hoyer: "I think just kind of 'Be yourself and go in and work hard and that's all you can do.' I mean all you can really ask for, especially at this point in my career and in this league, is an opportunity to compete for a starting job and that's what I have and I've gotta make the most of it."

Greenberg: "How did you feel you played last year, there were a lot of, you seemed to open up a lot of eyes including those..."

Golic: "Yeah, he played well."

Greenburg: "...of the four eyes sitting up here -- we were impressed with the very little bit, as you mentioned, that you got a chance to do before your injury and the team was playing well when you went down with injury -- how did you feel you played last year?"

Hoyer: "Good for, you know, really my first start -- I mean, I started with Arizona the year before but I'd only been there for two weeks, so it was my first real time to start and play with a team and an offense that I had been a part of for at least an offseason and I thought things were going well -- obviously the Minnesota game was some ups and downs but to finish it with a game winning touchdown drive, that kind of capped it off and then come back the next week and beat a division opponent at home in a close game, that was good and then obviously the injury happened, so it's kind of like those things where an opportunity's gonna come along at some point and you just want to take advantage of it when it does and I felt like I was doing that and then obviously it was taken away from me by the injury, so, now I'm just trying to get back and pick things up where I left them off last year."

Golic: "And Brian, talk about the offense a little bit -- it looks like you'll probably play the year without Josh Gordon, a guy who played so well last year and certainly has his issues off the field -- but the rest of the weapons there and that offense and what you're looking at."

Hoyer: "Sure, I mean we have a great plethora of weapons I would say, you first start off with the Pro Bowl tight end Jordan Cameron who was awesome this offseason. He's a hard worker, he learns quickly, and really picked up the system that Kyle Shanahan brought in -- and I guess while I'm talking about Kyle, I really love the system that he has, I mean it's very versatile -- you look at his history throughout the league, there's times when they led the league in rushing, there's times when they led the league in passing, so I'm really excited about that -- and then you move out. We signed Ben Tate from Houston who I'm really excited about -- he showed some great things in the spring -- and you draft a guy like Terrance West who I actually saw -- they had the Towson game on from last year and I popped that on and, man, it gets you excited to get to see him out there in pads and run guys over, and you go to our receivers and I've been throwing with Miles Austin and Travis Benjamin and Andrew Hawkins -- oh my God, that guy, he, he just stands out like a lighting rod when he's out on the field: he's a hard worker, he goes 120 percent on every play even if he's not getting the ball -- and then you talk about veterans like Nate Burleson, Anthony Armstrong, and you go right down the line, I think we have, we might not have one big name but I like our group as a whole."

Greenberg: "As far as Gordon is concerned -- it's a challenging situation to say the very least -- have you had a chance to talk to him, do you have any sense of how he's doing?"

Hoyer: "I've reached out to him -- I'd like to keep that between he and I -- and I think just the main thing is that we're here to support him and help him get through this time."

Greenberg: "And then a final thought for you, Brian -- and we appreciate the time and the fun here and we wish you the very best of luck -- obviously Mike phrased the question earlier: anytime a quarterback comes in you know you're gonna be competing, but this isn't just any quarterback, what has been your take so far on Johnny Manziel, what is your relationship been like with him, and what are you expecting between the two of you going forward as it gets going the end of this week?"

Hoyer: "Yeah, it's been great, I mean it's...we're teammates, so, we come in and he's, he works hard, he's in there trying to learn just like I am and he's just as big of a competitor as I am and that's gonna bring out the best in both of us, I think, and we go out there and we're gonna try to play to the best of our abilities and really, when it comes down to it, I want the best quarterback to play for this team, I don't, if that's not me then that's fine, especially being from here I want this team to succeed, so I'm gonna go out there and play to the best of my ability and he's gonna do the same and whoever earns it will be out on the field."

Greenberg: "That's a, it's a good perspective -- Do you have a selfie with Justin Bieber?"

Hoyer: "Haha, no. I only have one with my two year old son but that's about it."