Marked improvement in Browns' scrimmage for Johnny Manziel

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- As steps go, this one for Johnny Manziel seemed a little bigger than others.

Playing with and against backups, Manziel had himself a night in the Cleveland Browns' intrasquad scrimmage at The Horseshoe on Friday, throwing two touchdowns and unofficially completing nine of 11 passes for 93 yards in front of some 50,000 fans at Ohio State.

"I wouldn't make a huge deal about it, but it's progress for me," Manziel said. "It's better than I played last year in the scrimmage. A year later, there's a lot of progress. I'm happy about it and happy about stringing some good days together. That's what I wanted to do."

Owner Jimmy Haslam was impressed.

"I think he's starting to grow up, and he's starting to understand that you have to work hard and you got to get after it every day," he said. "Hopefully, he's learning to do that. He's got to prove that he'll do it over a period of time. But so far so good."

Manziel looked like a more confident player than a year ago. He dropped back, stood in the pocket and made throws. When he had to move he did, but most of his throws came from the pocket. His second touchdown, an 18-yard throw to Josh Lenz, came after Manziel scanned the right side of the field, then came back left to put the ball on Lenz's back shoulder for the score.

One year after not getting in the end zone at all in the team's scrimmage, Manziel made it twice.

"I think what jumps out is he's much less antsy in the pocket," coach Mike Pettine said. "He sets his feet, which is something that you really didn't see much last year. He's trusting his reads. I thought he placed the ball, I thought his location and accuracy were very good today."

It should be said that Josh McCown, No. 1 on the depth chart, threw a touchdown to Brian Hartline on his opening drive. While praising Manziel, veteran left tackle Joe Thomas also cautioned: "Josh (McCown) has done so many good things that to me it's not really a conversation about who should be the starter right now."

It's clear, though, that Manziel is gaining respect with his work and approach following a 10-week stay in a treatment center last winter.

"He had a long way to go to get back into the good graces with the team, but he's made all the right steps since he stepped back in (the team facility in) Berea back in April, and even before then," Thomas said. "He's really proved to a lot of people that this is important to him and he is ready to be an NFL starting quarterback. I think playing well in the scrimmage tonight and looking like an NFL quarterback is another good step in the direction that he wants to go."

Thomas said the team never doubted Manziel's ability.

"It was the other things that were getting in the way of him being able to be himself on the field," Thomas said. "You're starting to see the work that he put in off the field, not only with the rehab that he went through and the changes he's made in his personal life but the commitment that he's made in the meeting room. Studying film when he doesn't need to be. Doing the things that a starting quarterback has to do. I think you see that now that he's in competitive situation he's able to let that talent go and play well. And that's what you saw today."

Manziel's number would have been better had Lenz caught up to the first pass he threw, a deep ball that just missed connecting. Manziel's first touchdown came on a 4-yard pass to tight end E.J. Biggs, crossing right to left on the goal line.

"Feeling comfortable," Manziel said, "is a good thing."