After reports of Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel skipping a mandatory concussion protocol session for an incognito trip to a Las Vegas casino on Saturday night, newsnet5.com tracked down the QB in Avon on Tuesday.
Manziel was placed on the NFL’s concussion protocol on Wednesday after the Browns loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Dec. 27.
The Browns said Manziel missed a mandatory follow-up session scheduled for Sunday morning.
“When you're in concussion protocol, you don’t go to the game, you come to Berea,” owner Jimmy Haslam said Sunday night. “It’s my understanding that he wasn’t here this morning.”
According to the NFL’s Head, Neck and Spine Committee Protocol, a neuropsychological evaluation with “interpretation of the data by a team neuropsychology consultant" is performed before the player returns to practice or plays.
The Browns did not respond to newsnet5.com’s request for comment on Manziel’s whereabouts or whether the missed meeting was part of the required concussion evaluation.
Meanwhile, Manziel posted on his Instagram account Saturday night. The location is set for “Avon, Ohio” and shows a picture of him and a dog laying on a carpeted floor with the caption “Saturday Nights.”
But sources told ESPN Las Vegas that Manziel was spotted in a Las Vegas casino Saturday night. He was reportedly dressed in a blond wig, wearing a mustache and going by the name “Billy.”
newsnet5.com went to Manziel’s home Tuesday afternoon. A man who identified himself as Manziel’s friend answered the door and said Johnny was home but unable to speak with us.
When asked if he could confirm Manziel’s whereabouts Saturday night, the man said, “He may be able to, but he’s busy right now.”
Manziel did not return a voicemail message newsnet5.com left on his phone.
Shoppers at the Heinens in Avon told newsnet5.com they’d heard the quarterback was shopping there as recently as Monday.
“If you you have a concussion, you’re under medical advisement, you should not be partying anywhere, disguised or not,” Heinen’s shopper and Avon resident Dawn Robinson told newsnet5.com. “So Johnny needs a wake-up call.”
Former Coach Mike Pettine told reporters he does not know if Manziel was in Las Vegas this weekend.
As of Tuesday night, the Browns have not released a formal statement on Manziel’s whereabouts this weekend.
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