EJ Manuel underwent his scheduled knee procedure Sunday. Now the Buffalo Bills are trying to figure out when they can get their prized rookie back on the field.
Bills coach Doug Marrone couldn't give a definitive timetable on Manuel's return.
"I think what we're going to do is let's not talk about the timetable until we get through this preseason," Marrone said, via the Bills' official website. "I understand he's not going to be here for the preseason, but any time after that my expectation is he'll be day to day after that."
This is not the conversation Marrone wanted to be having two days after Manuel appeared to lock up the starting job with a strong performance against the Minnesota Vikings. The surgery keeps Kevin Kolb in the conversation for Week 1 against the New England Patriots.
Marrone acknowledged the quarterback position remains unsettled with the opener two weeks away.
"I don't know," he said. "There are a lot of variables that go into that. How Kevin is doing and how he is playing. How EJ comes back from the time off, so there's a lot of speculation on that. I think I'll be able to answer that question once we get to the day to day and he's out here practicing."
Kolb didn't show us anything we didn't already know about him on Friday. It's fair to assume Marrone would be over the moon if Manuel's recovery process allowed him to be ready for the Patriots.
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