Johnny Manziel takes first-team QB reps at Alouettes practice

Quarterback Johnny Manziel worked with the starting offensive unit at Montreal Alouettes practice Monday.

There you go. @JManziel2 taking first-team reps. Let’s see if #Alouettes head coach Mike Sherman declares him to be the starter?

— Herb Zurkowsky (@HerbZurkowsky1) July 30, 2018

After practice head coach Mike Sherman refused to name Manziel the starting quarterback for the Alouettes game against Hamilton in Week 8.

#AlsMtl Coach Sherman isn’t prepared to name Friday’s starter yet, but on the subject of Manziel taking first team reps in today’s practice, Sherman repeated his line from last week’s press conference: “We didn’t bring (Manziel) here to watch him sit on the bench.” #CFL #TSN

— John Lu (@JohnLuTSNWpg) July 30, 2018

However, Alouettes receiver B.J. Cunningham is sure about Manziel’s status for Friday night.

“He wouldn’t have him out there with the ones taking most of the reps if he wasn’t going to be playing I feel like, so he’s going to come out ready to play this week and we’re going to be right there with him,” Cunningham told TSN.

“He’s poised back there he’s calm, getting us the plays on time, making his reads, getting us the ball, getting it out of there fast and you know if something breaks down he has to do what he has to do – he’s a football player. I’m excited to see what he can do.

Cunningham feels as if Manziel has adjusted to Montreal’s offensive scheme well, even coming in on off days to learn more of the offence.

“We got Johnny back there, we gotta make plays for him, let’s get this game going,” Cunningham said.

The Alouettes traded for Manziel in a blockbuster deal – he must realize his potential to be worth the investment – with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, but Sherman elected to leave Johnny Football on the bench for his first game in Montreal. Many people were unhappy with the decision to leave Manziel on the sidelines in a loss to Edmonton. The Alouettes have scored a league-low 92 points through six games.

Als general manager Kavis Reed said the “coaches are well aware that we traded for him to play.”

Manziel has yet to appear in a regular-season CFL game. The 25-year-old quarterback played in two pre-season games completing 21-of-31 passes for 168 yards, one touchdown, no interceptions and rushed six times for 29 yards.

Manziel hinted on his Instagram that he could be playing soon.

Stay tuned…

A post shared by Johnny Manziel (@jmanziel2) on Jul 29, 2018 at 4:32pm PDT