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Bills announce that QB EJ Manuel will miss the rest of the preseason
EJ Manuel's quest to start for the Bills just hit a snag. (Bill Wippert/AP)
The quarterback battle in Buffalo between rookie EJ Manuel and veteran Kevin Kolb, which had been trending decisively in Manuel's direction, took an interesting hit on Saturday. In a statement released by the team, Bills head coach Doug Marrone announced that due to a minor knee procedure, Manuel will miss the final two preseason games against the Washington Redskins and Detroit Lions.
“EJ Manuel had some swelling in his left knee this morning and was examined by our medical staff," the statement read. "An MRI revealed that he will need to have a minor knee procedure and that has been scheduled. He will miss the remainder of the preseason and then be re-evaluated at that time. Kevin Kolb will be our starting quarterback for this weekend’s game at Washington."
It was also announced that receiver Kevin Elliot has a torn ACL and is out for the regular season.
Selected 16th overall by the Bills in the 2013 NFL draft, Manuel completed 26 of 33 passes for 199 yards, two touchdowns, and no interceptions through two preseason games. Only Drew Brees of the New Orleans Saints had a higher preseason passer rating than Manuel's 112.0 through Friday evening. Kolb, on the other hand, has completed 1 of 21 passes for 111 yards, no touchdowns, one interception, and a 55.9 passer rating. He did that all against the Vikings after missing time due to a knee injury caused by a slip on a rubber mat during practice.
The Bills signed Kolb to a two-year, $6.1 million contract in March after the former second-round pick of the Philadelphia Eagles washed out with the Arizona Cardinals.
Manuel said nothing about his knee after the 20-16 win over Minnesota -- he instead talked about his progression as a passer and how he's working into his new team.
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"I think we just had a good drive," he said of the 14-play, 80-yard touchdown jaunt he ran at the start of the second half. "First and foremost the whole line did a great and fantastic job. I didn’t have any pressure pretty much the whole time I was out there. Obviously the receivers did a great job getting open so we were able to move the ball right down the field."
Now, Marrone gets a better shot at seeing what Kolb can do.
SI.com contributing NFL writer and Seattle resident Doug Farrar started writing about football locally in 2002, and became Football Outsiders' West Coast NFL guy in 2006. He was fascinated by FO's idea to combine Bill James with Dr. Z, and wrote for the site for six years. He wrote a game-tape column called "Cover-2" for a number of years, and contributed to six editions of "Pro Football Prospectus" and the "Football Outsiders Almanac." In 2009, Doug was invited to join Yahoo Sports' NFL team, and covered Senior Bowls, scouting combines, Super Bowls, and all sorts of other things for Yahoo Sports and the Shutdown Corner blog through June, 2013. Doug received the proverbial offer he couldn't refuse from SI.com in 2013, and that was that. Doug has also written for the Seattle Times, the Washington Post, the New York Sun, FOX Sports, ESPN.com, and ESPN The Magazine. He also makes regular appearances on several local and national radio shows, and has hosted several podcasts over the years. He counts Dan Jenkins, Thomas Boswell, Frank Deford, Ralph Wiley, Peter King, and Bill Simmons as the writers who made him want to do this for a living. In his rare off-time, Doug can be found reading, hiking, working out, searching for new Hendrix, Who, and MC5 bootlegs, and wondering if the Mariners will ever be good again.