Brian Hoyer reflects on looking over his shoulder with Browns, things not working with Gordon

Former Cleveland Browns quarterback Brian Hoyer is in his second stint with the New England Patriots, but is still seeking his first Super Bowl ring (albeit as a backup). This week, he talked in-depth with the Cleveland media about his time with the Browns, and he dropped plenty of nuggets.

Mary Kay Cabot from Cleveland.com wrote two articles: one focusing on Josh Gordon, and the other focusing on Johnny Manziel. There was also a video clip with several quotes spliced together. Here is a reader’s digest of the best nuggets we saw:

Miscommunications with Josh Gordon

Talking about Josh Gordon’s return in 2014, Hoyer said that he never thought Gordon was playing under the influence, but that “looking back on it, it makes sense.” He also said it was never a rumor in the building that Gordon was playing under the influence.

Hoyer then talked about two examples of the miscommunications they had, which make sense now given what Gordon was going through:

“I can specifically remember in the Colts game where [Gordon] was supposed to run an in-route and he broke out and I remember getting ready to throw it and I was like ‘oh my gosh, he went the wrong way’ and it just little things like that where you were like ‘C’mon Josh.’’’

“[Against the Bills, Gordon] had a seam route in that game and when you have a seam route, you always go in front of the safety. Well, he went behind him and it hit the safety right in the chest. But now knowing what he admitted to, I really can’t blame that on him. He probably wasn’t in the right frame of mind to be playing football.’’

The Pressure of Being Benched for Manziel

The pressure that Hoyer felt as the season went on was real, due to Johnny Manziel being on the roster and the front office clamoring for him. Astonishingly, Hoyer flat out named former team president Alec Scheiner for being one of the guys who hyped the Manziel train:

“It was a circus, no doubt. Johnny was the Heisman Trophy winner and they really hype that. People like (former team president) Alex Scheiner, they were fueling that because our press conferences were on NFL Network everyday. That’s what they wanted. Not only that but we started winning. There were a lot of reasons that circus happened.”

Hoyer said that it wasn’t just him — as the season went on, other people in the building knew of the looming quarterback change, leading to dissent because everyone is left wondering, “what’s going to happen.” Cabot’s article says that Hoyer “was distraught in the locker room after the Atlanta game and couldn’t hide it,” and that “members of the coaching staff and front office took notice.” Hoyer said he knew that the last-second drive he put together in that game saved his job for one more week, but that the pressure became too much. “Imagine trying to do your job knowing you’re going to lose it if you make a mistake,” said Hoyer.

Other Notes

• If Alex Mack hadn’t gotten injured in 2014, Hoyer believes that things wouldn’t have gone south for him.
• The Browns never really give coaches, players, etc. a lasting chance. He’s in an organization now where it’s the complete opposite.
• He wishes things never ended the way they did in Cleveland, and he wishes he never had to leave. But, decisions are out of your control. His Browns memorabilia still brings him a lot of pride.
• He’s under contract for two years after this with the Patriots. If he’s still playing after that, you never know -- he wouldn’t rule out a comeback to Cleveland.
• Separate from this, Andrew Hawkins and Joe Thomas shared a pretty hilarious story about Josh Gordon benching Brian Hoyer for Johnny Manziel in Madden, right in front of him, in the locker room.