“At the end of the day, if I play well, it should take care of itself”.
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The Buffalo Bills and Cleveland Browns play a Thursday preseason game at FirstEnergy Stadium. “I know he wants to play”. Rex Ryan said after practice that he was very happy with the work of the O-line and Karlos Williams. “I understand, with the rotation and things like that, so that is not something I can worry about”. So I was disappointed with that obviously, that’s some big plays, run after the catch and unfortunately we don’t execute that. Following starts from Cassel and now Taylor, one would assume that EJ Manuel would start the team’s third preseason game in two weeks against Pittsburgh.
Taylor came on in relief of veteran Matt Cassel (7-of-8, 45 yards in two drives) in the second quarter of the Bills’ 25-24 loss to Carolina last night, and promptly led touchdown drives on his first two possessions against backup defenders.
When you’re working with the third team, it’s also clear that your roster spot is far from secure and Manuel isn’t operating under any illusions about where things stand for him in Buffalo.
“I’m not going to paint myself into a corner,” he said. “But if that’s not what coach has for me, I’ll just roll with it”.
That hasn’t been the case at recent practices as EJ Manuel has seen his share of first teams reps decrease to almost zero as the number of reps given to Matt Cassel increased.
“He’s going to get the majority of the game running with that group this second preseason game, so that’s the reasoning behind it”, Ryan said. “I did say Taylor would start Week 2, but I never said anything about Week 3”.
Manuel has been inconsistent and hampered by injuries since the Bills drafted him 16th overall.
The Bills staff has to be happy to have Carpenter back after Jordan Gay missed a field goal badly in the first pre-season game. Last year, he lost the starting job to journeyman Kyle Orton a month into the season. Browns’ defense did a good job of playing outside containment and forcing him to work from the pocket. But should he struggle, the door might swing open for Manuel or Cassel. Gilbert was then beaten by Robert Woods on a fade pass into the end zone.
Former Bills Defensive Coordinator and current Cleveland Browns coach Mike Pettine will lead the Browns to St. John Fisher for practice on Monday morning and Tuesday Night.
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“You have to have that short memory and be able to bounce back”, Pettine said. “In his defense, Darby gave up plenty of size to the larger Benjamin, who stands at 6′ 5″ and 243 lbs., while Darby stands at 5′ 11” and 190 lbs. He wants to learn. Taylor didn’t get much experience, but when he was on the field he flashed some potential as both a rusher and a passer. “Trust me”.
