The Bills got quarterback E.J. Manuel back at practice on Sunday and he didn’t hesitate when asked if he would name himself the starter for Week One.
“Most definitely,” Manuel said, via the team.
Coach Doug Marrone isn’t ready to make that call at this point, however. Marrone said after practice that he would make his decision about whether Manuel or Jeff Tuel starts against the Patriots on Wednesday. Marrone liked what Manuel was able to do while working in individual drills on Sunday, calling him ahead of schedule in his recovery from surgery to repair an injury to the meniscus in his knee.
“He looked good and we were excited about it. We’ll see how it goes later this week,” Marrone said.
Unless Manuel’s knee responds poorly to the return to practice, it looks like the odds are good that he’ll be the starter. The path to that result has been more fraught with obstacles than the Bills would have desired, but the destination would be the same as the one envisioned when the team made Manuel their first-round pick in April.