BEREA, Ohio -- Wednesday began with Cleveland Browns guard Joel Bitonio making fun of the media mania over Johnny Manziel.

It continued with Tampa Bay receiver and former Manziel teammate Mike Evans saying Manziel has future superstar written all over him.

And it wound down with coach Mike Pettine basically saying that Manziel won’t be playing for the Browns unless there is an injury or the team is out of the playoff hunt.

Meanwhile, the Browns got ready to play a game.

Monty Python had its “Life of Brian”; this is the “Life of Johnny,” with Brian relegated to supporting actor.

It’s a situation created by the team’s trade up in the first round to draft Manziel and molded by its decision to start Brian Hoyer and stick with him through good half and bad. Pettine said that has led to some frustration for Manziel as he watches.

“I can sense it,” Pettine said.

The coach didn’t mention specific conversations but intimated it’s a “feel thing,” the words Pettine used before the opener to keep the opposition guessing about whether Manziel would play.

“Maybe I’m imposing it, putting it on him,” Pettine said. “But you feel it because that’s the kind of competitor he is.”

Manziel’s role with the Browns at this point basically is to watch, learn and be ready. Hoyer is the starter, but as Jake Locker showed, Manziel is one helmet to the thumb away from being on the field.

Until then, fans can live with the fact that Pettine said there have been “glimpses” that Manziel can be a full-time starter.

Diving too deep into anything said about Manziel is dangerous. That’s what Bitonio was getting across in his first-person story for theMMQB.com when he wrote that “the media loves Johnny Manziel -- and Johnny just wants to be a normal guy.”

That may be impossible given that Manziel fuels website hits simply with his name. He garners mega-mouse clicks while not doing much of anything.

Like every player, Manziel should want to play. But Pettine gave no inkling it would happen anytime soon -- or that Manziel is completely ready.

“He’s certainly shown flashes of it,” Pettine said, “but we won’t truly know until he gets out there in an actual game and a meaningful time.”

Bitonio’s first-person narrative detailed the challenge for a guard going from one- and two-word play calls to Kyle Shanahan’s plays that are mini-lectures. Imagine how much more challenging it is for a quarterback.

Pettine said teams make mistakes forcing the issue because they feel they have to “find out” about a guy.

“Brian’s our starting quarterback,” Pettine said. “That’s a difficult thing to say, let’s just go ahead. All the games are meaningful.”

Evans provided the words of praise in a conference call with the Cleveland media.

“The game hasn't really seen a quarterback like him, I don't think,” Evans told a gaggle huddled around a speaker phone. “They say Doug Flutie and guys like that. But he can throw just as good as the 6-5 prototypical quarterbacks, and he can run like Michael Vick.”

Evans may be right. But it seems fair to assume the coaching staff has yet to see the guy Evans described, because if they had, he would be playing and not watching.

If Evans is right, the Browns have the best of both worlds. They are starting someone they believe can win while grooming the guy behind him. With Hoyer headed to free agency and whatever happens there, the Browns have covered their bases.

“I hate talking about contract stuff,” Pettine said. “But that’s the reality of the NFL, and we’ll see how it plays out down the road.”

Manziel admitted Friday that he’s the backup “and that’s that.” He added that there’s been enough drama about him the past two years and that he needs no more.

Clearly he’s searching for a new normalcy. But two days later he posted a tweet at 4:31 a.m. that prompted Pettine to make a crack about the post.

“I don’t know whether he was still up or whether he was waking up early and getting ready to come into work,” Pettine said.

It still marked the first time in-season that Manziel posted anything that might indicate his social life was picking up. Since the season began, and since the Browns spoke with Manziel, he has been laying pretty low -- aside from his every-Friday gaggle with the media.

On Thursday night, Manziel will be at Quicken Loans Arena welcoming LeBron James back to town. There will be several Browns there, but the rookie quarterback will probably be the one caught on TNT cameras.

Even the life of LeBron may pause momentarily for the life of Johnny.