Michael Silver: Johnny Manziel Showed Up Drunk to Practice, Browns Lied and Said He Had Concussion

When is a team OK with holding a player out with a concussion? When he's actually not concussed but shows up to practice wasted. According to a Browns player who spoke to NFL Network's Michael Silver, that's exactly what the Browns did with Johnny Manziel after he showed up to practice drunk in the final week of the season.

Days after another video of Manziel partying surfaced online, he was curiously placed in the concussion protocol before his scheduled start in the season finale against the Pittsburgh Steelers. At the time, reports were he showed up to practice on Wednesday, December 30, complaining of concussion-like symptoms. According to Silver, he was drunk and the Browns covered for him.

That is certainly quite the little tidbit. The Browns have routinely and increasingly distanced themselves from Manziel, expressing frustration and disappointment in his fall, but this is absolutely the definition of enabling. Days after he "entered the concussion protocol" and hours before Sunday's game against the Steelers, Manziel was spotted partying in Las Vegas. He has since spiraled even further out of control.

It's hard to figure out what to have less confidence in at this point: Manziel, the Browns, or the concussion protocol.

Update: The Cleveland Browns have denied Michael Silver's report that they fabricated Johnny Manziel's entry into the concussion protocol and Silver has slowly walked back a bit of his report. He stands by the initial report that Manziel showed up drunk, but then goes through a bunch of legal qualifying to say that he will have to take the Browns denial at face value.

1) I've been told by multiple sources that Manziel showed up late to the tea facility for a meeting & noticeably drunk on Wednesday, Dec. 30
— Michael Silver (@MikeSilver) February 9, 2016

2) He was later placed in the concussion protocol & sent home.
— Michael Silver (@MikeSilver) February 9, 2016

3) I am not a doctor & thus cannot presume to question the diagnosis of an independent neurologist or any medical professional…
— Michael Silver (@MikeSilver) February 9, 2016

4) I do not have direct knowledge of what Manziel may have told the doctor or doctors who evaluated him, or what might have been suggested.
— Michael Silver (@MikeSilver) February 9, 2016

5) If the Browns say they did not lie about Manziel's diagnosis, I will take them at their word, and I regret using that term ("lied").
— Michael Silver (@MikeSilver) February 9, 2016

6) I stand by my original report that Manziel showed up drunk at practice & that witnesses believed this was the cause of his "behavior."
— Michael Silver (@MikeSilver) February 9, 2016

7) This will be my last comment on the subject, pending further reporting.
— Michael Silver (@MikeSilver) February 9, 2016

ESPN, meanwhile, reports that Manziel showed up to practice hungover—and maybe that's why he was complaining of a headache, sensitivity to light, and nausea—so he was placed in the protocol after an independent neurologist examined him. Whatever is happening here, the moral of the story is: Silver's original report doesn't sound all that crazy for a story involving both Manziel and the Browns.

[New York Post]