Before the hype over a second great pre-season performance from EJ Manuel could even die down, things took a bad turn for the Buffalo Bills rookie quarterback.
Bills head coach Doug Marrone announced that Manuel suffered a minor injury to his left knee. However he would require surgery and will be sidelined for the rest of the preseason.
“EJ Manuel had some swelling in his left knee this morning and was examined by our medical staff. An MRI revealed that he will need to have a minor knee procedure and that has been scheduled,” Marrone said. “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.”
With less time for the rookie to acclimate to his new team and new offence, it puts major question marks on whether he’ll be able to win the starting job for week one, something this writer felt he was on his way to doing after the first two games.
Kevin Kolb was signed to be the Bills safety net if the rookie wasn’t ready to start this season, or if injuries occured. This injury certainly opens the door for the veteran quarterback to take a strangle hold on the job.
Kolb has had a tough start to his Bills career, suffering his own knee injury, a strange one slipping on a rubber mat between the practice fields at the training camp facility the Bills are using at St. John Fisher college. Kolb also missed time to attend a funeral with a death in the family. When he finally did get on the field for a half against the Minnesota Vikings, Kolb was an unimpressive 13-of-21 passing for 111 yards and an interception for a passer rating of 58.3.
The Bills will have to hope to see more out of Kolb in the next two preseason games.
In addition to the Manuel injury news, the Bills announced that wide receiver Kevin Elliott suffered a torn ACL and will miss the entire 2013 season.
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