Brian Hoyer remains ahead of Johnny Manziel in the competition to become starting quarterback of the Cleveland Browns, but the rookie played better in their preseason game against the Detroit Lions this weekend.

"We put Brian out there with the ones, and that was for a reason," Mike Pettine said of the preseason opener in Detroit on Saturday. "Because he was ahead, because of his edge in experience and the lead he had with the playbook. And he's done nothing to have that taken away from him.

"But Johnny has made some improvement, a lot of improvement. He's come in, and the things where he was behind in the spring, I think he's got a pretty firm grasp on. As we said before, it was him versus the playbook, and he's handling it well.

"He's really gone from one extreme to the other, and I think he's handled it well.

"Brian on the other hand has been solid."