Three quick-hit Browns nuggets for your reading delight...:

1) The local Pro Football Writers of America chapter voted Joe Thomas the Cleveland Browns player of the year, which daily beat writers here felt was generally long overdue.

Thomas has been in Cleveland since 2007. The list of previous winners since 2007: Derek Anderson, Shaun Rogers, Josh Cribbs, Peyton Hillis, D'Qwell Jackson, Phil Dawson and Josh Gordon. With all respect to those dudes, Thomas is a future Hall of Famer who is arguably the best tackle in football right now. He should have been on that list in a previous year.

And congrats to Brian Hoyer, who won the local PFWA 'Good Guy' award. Hoyer was always accessible, after good games or bad.

2) Just what Johnny Manziel needs entering his second start -- the Browns' top receiver missing Thursday's practice. Andrew Hawkins (58 catches, 763 yards) was not on the field. Should find out more about Hawkins missing practice later -- maybe he got a veteran's rest day -- but Hawkins is a good weapon to have against Carolina's zone-heavy scheme. With reliable third-down target Miles Austin done for the season, Manziel needs all the receiving help he can get.

3) Manziel is trying to let last week go. Can everyone else? Probably not. The wounds are too fresh. But Manziel is hoping his past wisdom is true, that some days a quarterback is just "off." "The biggest thing for us is to put that behind us and not harp on that ... just let it go," Manziel said.