The Buffalo Bills practiced for the first time Sunday without first round pick EJ Manuel. Manuel was evaluated and underwent a “knee procedure” Sunday to fix a problem that Head Coach Doug Marrone won’t be too specific about. “I’m going to be honest alright. Obviously I have the information of exactly what it is, but at this time the consensus of what we’ve talked about was to just say that it’s been a minor procedure. I just want to tell everyone the truth there.” We do know that there was swelling in his injured knee.
Team doctors performed the procedure on Manuel and it is possible that he could return for Week 1 vs. New England. “I feel like obviously (Manuel) could” said Marrone. “There is a good chance of that. The problem I have in that is again a lot of it is how he comes back and again there goes the variable thing, when he comes back, did he miss time? No one ever really starts where they left off.”
This injury news comes as a huge disappointment for Buffalo and their fans because of how well Manuel had been playing up to this point. Manuel played in the first preseason game vs. the Colts and looked very comfortable in the offense. And then on Friday vs. the Vikings, Manuel outshined veteran Kevin Kolb by completing 10 of his 12 passes and throwing a short touchdown to Brad Smith.
The disappointment throughout the organization has to rival that of the fans but Coach Marrone has a different view of the disappointment. “I just want to make sure to clarify what disappointed means. I’ve said this before with injuries, you’re always disappointed for the player and the reason why I become disappointed is because the player has put so much in to it and it’s really out of his control. Just like poor Kevin Elliott goes out there and it’s a non-contact injury and you’re disappointed for him. Again your concentration is more on the team, so you’re disappointed for him from the standpoint of the work he’s put in and everything that’s gone in to him in developing him. No matter who it is.”
This injury opens the quarterback competition up for Kevin Kolb to make a push to be the starter for Buffalo this season. Kolb wasn’t very sharp Friday but now has a chance vs. Washington to bounce back. Buffalo does not intend to sign another quarterback in Manuel’s absence so the playing time at quarterback will be divided between Kolb and rookie Jeff Tuel.
This may be Kolb’s last chance at trying becoming a starter again in the NFL. His career has been slowed by injuries but now an unfortunate injury to another player may assure Kolb another start in the NFL.
