Austin Davis will try to keep Johnny Manziel on bench with good starting debut vs. Bengals
Cleveland Browns vs. Cincinnati Bengals
Cleveland Browns quarterback Austin Davis runs for a first down against the Baltimore Ravens in the second half Monday night, Nov. 30, 2015. (Joshua Gunter, cleveland.com)
Print Email Mary Kay Cabot, Cleveland.com By Mary Kay Cabot, Cleveland.com
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on December 05, 2015 at 8:42 PM, updated December 05, 2015 at 8:43 PM
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CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Austin Davis didn't expect a text from his friend Brett Favre this week when the Browns picked him over Johnny Manziel to start Sunday against the Bengals.
"No, I don't think he gets cell reception deer hunting in the woods,'' Davis said of Favre. "He's unreachable right now. But when he comes out of the foxhole, I'm sure he follows along. I know he's had a lot of nice things to say, and I appreciate it from such a legend and such a great player."
Favre seemed like he may have spent a little too much time out in a tree stand last year when he put his fellow Southern Mississippi product into the Hall of Fame during a hot stretch with the Rams, where he went 3-5 as a starter in 2014.
"Not to sound off my rocker, but he -- in my mind -- can be the next Tom Brady or Kurt Warner," Favre told ESPN. "(Brian) Hoyer as well. Austin, like those mentioned, just needed a legit opportunity."
Davis appreciated the high praise from the future Hall of Famer, but told reporters then, "I don't really want to be the next anybody. I just want to be the first Austin Davis and just keep doing what we're doing."
Davis, who first met Favre at Southern Miss, trained with the 11-time Pro Bowler in preparation for the 2012 NFL Combine, where Davis was a last-minute invite. Even then, he was summoned mostly to throw to the tight ends, and was an afterthought amongst the quarterbacks.
But once he was there, reporters caught wind that Favre was his mentor.
"You broke some of his records at Southern Miss?" one asked Davis, according to the Huntsville Times.
"Yes, sir," Davis said.
"Which ones?" the reporter asked.
"All of them,'" Davis said.
It was vintage Davis, who becomes the 24th quarterback to start a game for the Browns since 1999. He's quiet and unassuming. He walked onto the Southern Miss football team after earning a baseball scholarship there. He started as a redshirt freshman and never looked back, leading the team to 12 wins as a senior.
Along the way, he shattered Favre's records and earned the respect of the former Packers' great, who struck up a friendship with him back then.
But the only team that drafted Davis out of college was the Boston Red Sox, in the 31st round.
By then, Davis had long left his baseball career in the rearview mirror and had signed as an undrafted free agent with the Rams. He spent 2012 in St. Louis and was cut the following year, but soon joined the Dolphins practice squad. That lasted all of a week before he landed back in St. Louis in October of 2013.
Last season, he began camp as the third quarterback there and was just trying to hang on. But Sam Bradford's torn ACL, suffered in the preseason game in Cleveland, paved the way for Davis to put himself on the NFL map and ultimately end up with the Browns.
Pressed into service after Shaun Hill went down with a calf injury in the opener, Davis started the next eight games and captured the attention of the NFL with some sensational performances. He had back-to-back 300-yard, three-TD games in losses to Dallas and Philadelphia, and then knocked off the defending Super Bowl champion Seahawks, earning a 132.3 rating in that game.
"It's important that you flush every game when it's over, whether it's good or bad,'' said the even-keeled Davis. "But to a certain extent, you draw off of the confidence good games give you and just remind yourself that you can do it. It just takes the right opportunity.''
After rough outings against San Franciso and Arizona, Davis lost the job to Hill and never attempted another pass in the final seven games.
In the offseason, the Rams trade for Nick Foles and Case Keenum, and drafted Sean Mannion in the third round. The odd man out, Davis was released on Sept. 5 and the Browns signed him two days later. On Sept. 30, they wrapped him up to a two-year extension worth $4.173 million.
"From the moment I got here I felt like they believed in me as a player and that's really important regardless of if I was going to serve as the three for the rest of the year,'' said Davis, who jumped from No. 3 to No. 1 for the season straight year. "That wasn't really part of the discussion as far as, 'You're going to start and this and that.' We all know how things can change.''
Ironically, Davis may have had a chance to start again this year in St. Louis, where Foles was benched and re-instated this week only because Keenum has a concussion.
"I miss those guys and I wish them well, but that's life in the NFL,'' said Davis. "You've got to switch teams, you've got to keep going and keep getting ready to play.''
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Davis knows he'll take the field Sunday in front of a home crown that largely wants to see Johnny Football. But just like last week, when he trotted out to a chorus of "Johnny! Johnny!'' chants to replace Josh McCown (broken collarbone), he'll take it in stride.
"Playing quarterback is hard no matter what,'' he said. "I have to do a good job of not letting it faze me. The thing we need to remember is our fans are passionate and want to win. So I don't take things like that personally. I see it as they're passionate, they want to win, and we all do. To play in front of a home crowd like that, I'll take that any day.''
The fans sure loved 'em some Davis Monday night when he went 6-for-6 on his first drive for 71 yards, including a 42-yard touchdown pass to Travis Benjamin that tied the Ravens at 27 with 1:47 remaining. Of course, the joy in Brownville was short-lived when Baltimore blocked the 51-yard gamewinning field goal attempt and Will Hill returned it 64 yards for a touchdown as time expired for the 33-27 victory.
"During the game, he told me 'it feels good to be in here' and he just smiled real big,'' said receiver Marlon Moore. "It's unfortunate the way that it had to come about, but we're happy for him and we're going to go to battle with him just like we would for Josh and Johnny.''
Relentless preparation is Davis' hallmark. Even when he first arrived, he could be seen helping McCown decipher the defense on the sidelines.
"The fact of letting people down just bothers me,'' he said. "That's where just the hard work and prep comes from. It's a big responsibility."
Davis knows he's on a week-to-week trial and that Manziel will get out of the doghouse soon for lying to the coaches about partying over the bye weekend.
"The quarterback situation is always week to week,'' he said. "You never know when somebody's going to get hurt or circumstances change.''
He also knows he's No. 24 on the ridiculous list of Browns quarterbacks since 1999. For comparison's sake, the Patriots have started three quarterbacks in that same 16-year span: Drew Bledsoe, Tom Brady and Matt Cassel. He's also the 15th Browns quarterback Marvin Lewis has faced since 2003.
"I've heard that number (24) tossed around, but it's hard to really speak on that,'' he said. "I just want to prepare and play my best."
It won't be easy against the 9-2 Bengals, who beat the Browns 31-10 in the first meeting with Manziel at the helm. They're No. 1 in the NFL in points allowed with only 17.5 per game and and held Davis' former Rams to just seven last week. Defensive tackle Geno Atkins leads all NFL interior linemen with eight sacks and Carlos Dunlap has 8.5. Safety Reggie Nelson leads the NFL with six interceptions.
"They're really good, that jumps out,'' said Davis. "I don't know exactly what they're ranked, but I'm pretty sure it's close to the top. We'll try to build on what we were able to do successfully and figure out what we didn't do so well. But they're going to change and we're going to change. It's a different game.''
And if all goes as planned, Davis will give Favre something to smile about when he comes back in from the woods.
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