INDIANAPOLIS — Head coach Chuck Pagano didn’t care who eventually wound up starting at quarterback for the Cleveland Browns this week, when the Indianapolis Colts pay a visit to the surprising 7-5 AFC North contender.

Veteran Brian Hoyer got the call Wednesday, Browns head coach Mike Pettine going with experience over the simmering excitement surrounding rookie Johnny Manziel. Pagano and the Colts will proceed with their usual preparations for Sunday’s game at Firstenergy Stadium.

Hoyer has completed 222-of-395 passes this season for 3,056 yards, 11 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He has also been sacked 20 times.

Manziel had replaced Hoyer in the fourth quarter of last week’s loss to Buffalo. But Indianapolis had a defensive game plan prepared for either one. The decision by Pettine to go with Hoyer, though, was somewhat expected.

“(We) had a good start to the week. It’s a huge, huge game because it’s the next game. It’s a conference game and it’s on the road. All that stuff. They’re a darn good football team, the Browns. So we’ve got to do a great job in our preparation in getting ready for this ball game,” Pagano said Wednesday.

And getting ready for Hoyer and the rest of the Cleveland offense, which has been able to move the football this season. But Indianapolis wants to be ready if Manizel were to get into the game.

“I think we’d better do our due diligence and prepare for the starter,” the Colts coach said. “They could put (Manizel) in at any point. So we’ll make sure that we have a plan in place.”

Pagano compared the possibility of facing Manziel with playing against Jacksonville rookie quarterback Blake Bortles in his first extensive action on Sept. 21.

“They made the change at halftime. They brought Bortles out. We haven’t seen him. We haven’t played against him. We haven’t practiced against him. But until you play against a guy, there’s always that shock factor, or whatever, to adjust to a new guy,” the coach explained.

“Blake was able to make some plays here and there, get out of harm’s way, scramble and run around. We’ve got tape on Johnny. Every knows that he can improvise as good as anybody in the game. So it’s always a challenge when you face a new guy or play against a new guy.”

Wide receiver Josh Gordon returned recently from an NFL suspension and gives the Browns an added dimension to their passing game.

Gordon has already caught 15 passes for 195 yards in the short time that he’s been back with the team.

“He’s a guy that you’re going to have to watch out for,” Pagano said. “He’s been targeted something like 30 times since he’s been back with the team. Fast, athletic and he usually has a lot of yards after the catch. We’ll have to try and find a way to slow him down.”

Having former Cleveland head coach Rob Chudzinski on the Indianapolis coaching staff will help in putting game plans together.

“A great resource. We’ve got some guys that played with those guys (Cleveland). And they’ve shared some information,” Pagano said. “There’s a bunch of players there that our guys don’t know. But the guys that they do know they’ve been able to share some of those intangibles that you don’t see on tape.”