The sting of Johnny Manziel's horrid first professional start from Sunday is wearing off and his coach is standing by his side.

Rookie QB Johnny Manziel Drops The Ball With First Professional Start

On Sunday, the Cleveland Browns faced off against the Cincinnati Bengals with Manziel as the quarterback, but he had a rough game. The Bengals shut out the Browns, 30-0.

Manziel was sacked three times during the game. He was intercepted twice. He only went 10-of-18 for 80 yards. He also had Bengals players mocking his signature money sign. 

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Despite his cringe-worthy first start, his coach, Mike Pettine is sticking with him.

USA Today reported Monday that Pettine said one game "is too small of a sample size" to judge Manziel's capabilities.

The coach also stated Manziel would be starting again for this upcoming Sunday's game against the Carolina Panthers.

Pettine stated, "When you look at how we played around him, it's very unfair to judge what somebody's career is going to be like off their first start. I'm sure you can go back and find other regrettable performances in [a quarterback's] first start. We're going to see him play and then see how it goes from there."

Manziel also stated Monday that his debut start and the game overall was "a little bump" and he claimed the team will be fine.

He also mentioned he's not listening to the negative comments that are soaring since his debut start was a flop. For instance, ESPN analyst Merril Hoge had many harsh comments toward Manziel as reported by Cleveland on Sunday.

Hoge said, "As I've said before, it's going to be a quick exit and it's unfortunate, because whoever drafted him in Cleveland, they need to be fired. Because it's unfair to the kid. He has sixth-round talent, but first-round hype, and you draft him there and now regardless of what happens from here on out, he will be expected to play like a first-rounder and that's unfair to him. He doesn't have the skill set to withstand that expectation and that's not his fault, it's the Cleveland Browns' for drafting him that high."

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