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Josh McCown has seemed supportive of Johnny Manziel throughout the season.
McCown is a 36-year-old quarterback who's on his sixth NFL team, fighting to continue his career.
Manziel is a 22-year-old quarterback trying to make his way in the NFL.
Both are playing for a bad Browns team that is going to miss the playoffs, and both have been pitted against each other in a competition for the quarterback spot. They're both basically auditioning for the future, and it looks poorly for each player to not be playing for such a bad team.
McCown won the competition in training camp, then got a concussion on the first drive of the NFL season. Manziel came in and played well, leading some to believe that he should be the starter. Instead, McCown got the job back when he was healthy.
When McCown got hurt again, with the Browns at 2-8, Manziel was given the starting role for the rest of the season, essentially giving him a six-game tryout to prove where he belongs on the team's depth chart.
That was taken away on Tuesday when video surfaced of Manziel reportedly partying this past weekend during the Browns bye week. It upset Browns coach Mike Pettine, who had given Manziel a new level of responsibility. Even worse, it raised questions about the state of Manziel's personal health after he had spent the offseason in rehab. Manziel has been benched and McCown is the starter once again.
While it's unlikely that McCown, or any other quarterback, would publicly trash Manziel, given that McCown just got his old job back, he could have made the situation about himself and how he'll approach the game. He could have even chided Manziel for his immaturity or lack of preparation for his new role. Instead, McCown seemed to react in a heartfelt, genuine way to the news.
"I'm behind the guy 100% and want nothing but the best for him," McCown told reporters. He continued:
"When you spend that much time with somebody, there's genuine concern with - you just want people to make healthy choices. It's not just Johnny, it's every guy in this locker room. ... I just ask for every guy to have a good, healthy life outside of this building. So, that's my mindset. Regardless, if that doesn't seem to be the case, I think as a teammate, and just like I would do with any close friends in my life, you just go, 'How can I serve them? How can I help them?' If you feel like you're doing that, then what other area or what other plan of attack can you take to do more if need be?"
McCown also said young players face more pressure to make good decisions today than when he was first starting in the NFL.
"With young guys, especially in this day and age - it's not just Johnny," he said, "the access and the fact the things you might try to do in private and or public... but it could get out there just because of social media and phones and things like that. It makes it a lot tougher. It's way different than when I came into the league."
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This has generally been McCown's tone throughout the season. When Manziel was named the starter last week, McCown said he supported Manziel: "I will support and help him get ready, just like I did this week, and do everything I can to help him to play the best ball he can to help us win football games."
He also commented on Manziel's improvement during a Week 10 loss to the Steelers:
"For him to be effective from the pocket first - you just look at it and look at our league, and the guys that are successful, they are successful from the pocket - I was proud of him because he was so effective from the pocket."
Again, there's nothing suggesting that McCown and Manziel ever disliked each other - it's just the nature of their situation. They're surely competitive and each want the starting job. Naturally, when one person gets it and the other doesn't, there's probably some degree of jealousy and desire to win it back.
Instead, McCown seems like someone who genuinely wants Manziel to succeed and genuinely hopes Manziel works through his own personal issues.