Former Bills Quarterback E.J. Manuel Blasts Nathan Peterman After Another Multi-Interception Outing
E.J. Manuel is not liking what he's seen at quarterback from one of his former teams.
Selected by the Bills with the No. 16 pick in the 2013 draft, Manuel spent the first four years of his career in Buffalo before spending last season with the Raiders. The ex-Florida State Seminal is now without a team, which has him a bit confused since Nathan Peterman has gotten multiple chances to start this season for Buffalo.
"I usually never open up about my situation in Buffalo, but the fact that this guy has had multiple games with 4+ interceptions ... and I still don't have a job in the league?" Manuel wrote on his Instagram Sunday. "UNREAL. Say what you want about me, but never have I EVER done that. Forget a learning curve, I didn't get the luxury of being able to use that as an excuse. I wonder why."
Although Manuel's criticism is not off base, it isn't entirely accurate. In Sunday's 41-9 loss to the Bears, Peterman threw three interceptions, not four as Manuel implied in his post. Peterman's seven interceptions this season are tied for eighth in the league, but he hasn't thrown four picks in a game this season. He has thrown fewer than half as many passes as any other quarterback with at least six picks.
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The only time Peterman's reached the four interception mark was his first career start, when he tossed five interceptions in the first half against the Chargers last season before getting benched.
Manuel's point though still holds merit. Peterman has 12 interceptions in eight regular season games and a pick in the postseason game he played in even though he only threw three passes. In 31 career regular season games, Manuel has 16 interceptions. Both quarterbacks have four games with multiple interceptions, but Manuel's career high is four, and that was the only time he ever tossed more than two in a game.
Additionally, Manuel has a 58% completion percentage while Peterman's career mark is at 52%. In Peterman's four career starts, Buffalo is 1-3 and he has gone 47-for-91 for 336 yards, one touchdown and 10 interceptions. In Manuel's 17 starts for the Bills, they went 6-11 and he completed 53.4% of his throws for 3,457 yards, 19 touchdowns and 15 picks.
Buffalo is 2-7 this season and last in the AFC East. The Bills face the Jets on the road in Week 10 and then have their bye Week 11.
