The Bills-Browns game last night was quite a rough one for the quarterbacks. Bills rookie quarterback, EJ Manuel, definitely can attest to that after the injury he suffered toward the end of the game. After suffering a knee injury that caused him to forfeit the preseason, Manual is now facing yet another setback. Luckily, the setback appears to be minor.

In the middle of the third quarter, on a third down attempt, Manuel was cornered, with no one open to get the ball off to. Feeling pressured by charging defenders, Manuel scrambled in an effort to pick up the first down. After he picked up the necessary yardage for the down, Manuel gained quite a few more yards. As he deftly ran down the side of the field, he was abruptly stopped by Browns defensive back, Tashun Gipson. Manuel suffered a direct blow to the knee during the tackle. Once he was down, he didn’t get back up.

The game was tied at 17 when Manuel was injured. His scrambling efforts landed him at the Browns’ 13-yard line, placing the Bills in excellent field position to score. The Bills drive ended in a touchdown giving them a 24-17 lead. However, the lead was short lived because that was the Bills’ last scoring drive of the game. The Cleveland Browns went on to win the game 37-24, clenching their third straight victory.

After having the knee checked out, Bills’ head coach, Doug Marrone announced on Friday that Manuel suffered a LCL sprain. He also stated that fortunately the injury would not require any type of surgery. When asked how soon Manuel would return, Marrone replied, “We think it will be a few weeks.” Marron would not give a definitive timetable for Manuel’s return, stating that the quarterback’s progress would be further evaluated over the course of the next week. The minimum time Manuel could be out is approximately two weeks. However, NFL Media Insider, Ian Rapoport, stated that the timetable would probably be approximately six weeks.
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