Manziel shows flash in debut
Johnny Manziel showed some fancy footwork, and the Cleveland rookie looked sharp with his arm too in his preseason debut, although the Browns lost 13-12 to the Lions in Detroit on Saturday night.
Manziel entered the exhibition game as a backup in the middle of the second quarter, and although he couldn’t take his team to the end zone, he did go 7-of-11 for 63 yards, completing one more pass than starting quarterback Brian Hoyer (6-of-14, 92). Manziel also ran for 27 yards on six carries, including a 16yard scramble in the third quarter.
Matthew Stafford led the Lions to a field goal on his only drive of the game.
In other exhibitions, Carson Palmer was 5for-5 for 84 yards and a touchdown in his only series and the host Arizona Cardinals spoiled Bill O’Brien’s first game as Houston’s coach with a 32-0 rout. Texans quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick had a rough debut, completing 6 of 14 passes for 55 yards with two interceptions while playing the entire first half. … Rashad Jennings had a 73-yard TD run in the first quarter and Curtis Painter’s scoring pass with 2:50 left gave the host New York Giants a 20-16 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers. … Jackie Battle scored on a 7-yard run with 5:02 left, and the Titans rallied to beat the Packers 20-16 in Ken Whisenhunt’s coaching debut in Tennessee. Vikings’ player shot: Police are looking for a gunman who shot nine people, including Minnesota Vikings defensive tackle Linval Joseph, inside a downtown Minneapolis club early Saturday.
The Vikings described Joseph as an “innocent bystander” and said he was hit in the calf by a stray bullet. The injury is minor; he was treated at a hospital and released. Briefly: Rams head coach Jeff Fisher expects Sam Bradford to play in thisweek’s preseason game against the Packers, which would be the quarterback’s first time facing competition since he injured his left knee in October. … Bills left tackle Cordy Glenn, sidelined since training camp opened July 20, returned to practice but is not yet ready to participate in team drills. … Brandon Carr is back with the Cowboys after missing the first two weeks of training camp to be with his mother in the final days of her long bout with breast cancer.