Johnny Manziel finishes CFL preseason with vintage performance
It remains to be seen where Johnny Manziel’s comeback will lead him, but he took a positive step forward on Saturday with his new team, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League.
Manziel got significant playing time under center in the final preseason game and led the Cats to a 30-15 win over Montreal.
He showed some flashes of the Johnny Football that won the Heisman Trophy at Texas A&M and made him a first-round draft pick of the Cleveland Browns in 2014.
Manziel completed 12-of-20 passes for 88 yards and a touchdown, and also ran for 19 yards. He entered the game in the second quarter in relief of Bryant Moniz. At the time, the Ti-Cats were losing 14-0.
In his second CFL preseason appearance, Johnny Manziel has his first CFL touchdown! 🚨 pic.twitter.com/D7DX33t3Mt
— CFL on TSN (@CFLonTSN) June 9, 2018
Manziel immediately engineered a scoring drive, tossing a three-yard strike to Alex Green for his first touchdown pass of the preseason. Manziel led three more scoring drives in the second half before being replaced by Dane Evans.
“By no means is it perfect, or close to perfect, but there are some flashes, things I know and feel comfortable with,” Manziel said afterward, per The Associated Press.
“There are things that I should hit on the field that I missed today. That’s just part of trying to get better and get back in a feel of playing ball every day, week in and week out. Any time I’m getting in and getting reps and getting a chance to take live reps like today, that’s a positive day,” Manziel added.
It was Manziel’s second appearance for Hamilton since signing a two-year deal with them in May. Last week he saw time against Toronto, completing nine of 12 passes for 80 yards.
“You saw him out there. He’s still a little rusty,” Tiger-Cats coach June Jones said Saturday.
“But he’s a competitor. He knows what’s going on. He’s seeing what’s going on. He’s able to execute real quickly. You guys can see what he can do. He can make a difference. I think he’s going to be a very good player in this league.”
Johnny Manziel looking like Texas A&M Manziel here in his CFL debut pic.twitter.com/V1T95a6MwU
— The Ledge (@TheLedgeSports) June 2, 2018
When the regular season opens later this week, Manziel will be the backup to Jeremiah Masoli, who played college ball for Oregon and Mississippi.
Johnny Manziel appears to have won the Hamilton Tiger-Cats backup job https://t.co/IGetSAa7ag
— Cold Taek Chris (@mistochristopho) June 10, 2018
Masoli was inserted as the starter for Hamilton last season and the team won six of his 10 starts, but the Tiger-Cats finished a disappointing 6-12.
If the team struggles early, don’t be shocked to see Manziel under center.
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