Will a meeting with the NFL keep Johnny Manziel from starting for the Browns?

Of all the news that gets churned out before Week 8 of the NFL season, a good chunk of the hype will likely revolve around Johnny Manziel. Not because he could potentially get the start for the Cleveland Browns next Sunday, but because it isn’t known whether or not the league is even going to let him play in the foreseeable future.

The NFL has reportedly scheduled a meeting with Manziel in regards to the domestic incident on October 12 between the backup quarterback and his girlfriend Colleen Crowley. However, the time and place of this meeting is still widely unknown, making it even more unclear whether or not he will have to start against the Arizona Cardinals next Sunday.

A chief concern appears to be whether the pending meeting will distract Manziel, who played the tail end of Cleveland’s 24-6 loss to the St. Louis Rams in Week 7. Off-field distractions have plagued his still-young career in the league, with the incident with Crowley being the latest in the series. Manziel spent 10 weeks during the offseason at an addiction treatment facility, and the incident involving Crowley allegedly stems from alcohol.

Mary Kay Cabot of the Northeast Ohio Media Group reported that Manziel, in his first talk with the media since the incident, wasn’t giving away when or where the meeting with the NFL is taking place.

"Obviously it's a situation that's ongoing with the league,'' he reportedly said. "If the NFL does reach out to me, I'll fully cooperate with anything they ask me. I'm not shying away from that. I cooperated fully with Avon, I cooperated fully with everybody in the Browns and anybody that's asked me anything. We'll see in the upcoming weeks.''

Manziel entered last week’s game during the fourth quarter after starting quarterback Luke McCown suffered a shoulder injury. Prior to that drive he hadn’t played since Week 2 against the Tennessee Titans. He threw for 172 yards with 2 touchdowns during that game.