Archives for October 2013

‘”The place where I’m getting recognized at used to be my rival,” he said. “I’m going back to the school [which] I disliked and I’m being honored at it.”‘

‘Weeden came off the bench after Brian Hoyer injured his knee and rallied the Browns to a 37-24 victory over the Buffalo Bills, who also lost starting rookie quarterback EJ Manuel with a knee injury.’

‘”When you lose your quarterback and receiver, it’s going to be tough but you have to deal with it,” Jackson said. “It’s the NFL. Injuries are going to happen.”‘

‘Manuel was hit on the right knee by Browns safety Tashaun Gipson at the end of a 14-yard run. Manuel stayed down in obvious pain and then walked slowly to the sideline before he was replaced by rookie backup Jeff Tuel. Manuel tried to get his loose on the sideline, jogging and riding a stationary bike. Trainers examined his knee before taking him to the locker room.’

‘After being flushed from the pocket, Hoyer gained 11 yards on a run before he got his leg caught underneath while being tackled. He stayed down for several moments before he was helped to a trainer’s table and then limped to the locker room under his own power for tests and treatment.’

‘Jackson, who leads the Bills with 256 rushing yards and two touchdowns, sprained his left knee last week in a win over Baltimore and will wear a brace. Spiller sprained his ankle in the third quarter against the Ravens and returned to practice Wednesday after missing the two previous days.’

‘”I was hoping we could get him back, but they said it was a sprain and they shut him down,” Bills head coach Doug Marrone said of Manuel.’

‘He was hit in the right knee by Browns safety Tashaun Gipson as he was going out of bounds. Manuel immediately clutched at his knee, but walked off the field under his own power.’

‘Hoyer was hurt while sliding at the end of a scramble. He broke free along the right sideline and picked up a first down, but was hit from behind by Bills linebacker Kiko Alonso and his legs bent awkwardly underneath him.’

‘Spiller, who missed a portion of Sunday’s 23-20 win over Baltimore due to the injury, had been listed as questionable entering the contest.’

‘”It was just a misread on my part,” Tuel said. “I didn’t see the safety flying down. Just a screw-up on my part.”‘

‘Neither starting quarterback returned to action. Both were diagnosed with sprains, though the NFL Network reported the Browns fear Hoyer tore knee ligaments. Hoyer will undergo an MRI exam Friday, while Manuel will be re-evaluated.’

‘Any thoughts of last-minute heroics from Tuel were squashed after Ward picked off the Buffalo rookie, taking it 44 yards to the end zone. Tuel finished 8 of 20 for 80 yards. Manuel was 11 of 20 for 129 yards before leaving the game. After taking over for Brian Hoyer early in the game, Weeden threw for 197 yards on 13 completions.’

‘In this business you never say never. Jeff Tuel could start the next game and lead the Bills to a big win kicking off a great career. From what I’ve seen in practice I would highly doubt that. I don’t think Buffalo has any chance to win any game until Manuel is back under center.’

‘It was an absolutely tough situation for any quarterback to go into, let alone an undrafted free agent rookie that had never taken a snap in a game that counted toward the actual standings. It was a short week where reps were not going around quite as freely as a normal week would bring, and Jeff Tuel had to be ready for the worst case scenario just in case. It happened, and Tuel couldn’t do much.’