It was just announced that Buffalo Bills quarterback E.J. Manuel will miss the rest of the preseason due to having a knee procedure. While it is now unclear in what is actually happening in this procedure, Bills head coach Doug Marrone said nothing about Manuel missing any regular season action.
My guess for what’s going on in the procedure due to the swollen state of his knee is that they are draining fluid to prevent a longer and much more serious knee injury to occur.
While there are several Bills fans that are highly annoyed at this injury to Manuel. (and rightfully so) That being said if Manuel can be cleared to play for week one of the regular season, this could be a huge blessing in disguise as coach Marrone wouldn’t have to name a starter and it could keep the New England Patriots and their coaching staff with their seemingly infinite wisdom in guessing who’s going to start between Kevin Kolb and Manuel.
If Kolb has to start, he does bring the intangible of being the Patriots last season in Gilette Stadium with a far less talented team than what he has now.
With the loss of Manuel, fellow rookie quarterback Jeff Tuel will see extended playing time for the time being in which could yield huge dividends for the long term development of his professional career however long or short it might be. Also with the injury, it will give Kolb more time to develop a solid relationship with all the wide receivers and tight ends.
All and all, it should be interesting to see what kind of quarterback play the Bills get out of their two healthy ones and if/when Manuel recovers to see if he can return to the hot start he has had early into his playing career.