Bills Starting EJ Manuel Against Bengals

Bob Holtzman of ESPN reports that the Bills are expected to start EJ Manuel at quarterback for their Week 6 match up against the Bengals.

• According to Holtzman, Taylor tried to convince the Bills’ coaching staff he could play, but he’s apparently not ready.

Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports reported that earlier in the week that the Bills could be without starting QB Tyrod Taylor for “multiple games” due to an MCL sprain, so this doesn’t come as a big surprise.

On top of that, Taylor was limited in practice all week, which further indicated he could be held out of Sunday’s game.

Buffalo signed veteran QB Josh Johnson to a contract earlier this week to bolster their quarterback depth.

Taylor, 26, managed to beat out Matt Cassel, who has since been traded to the Cowboys, and EJ Manuel for the starting job during the preseason.

This season, Taylor has thrown for 1,097 yards passing while completing 70.1 percent of his passes to go along with nine touchdowns and four interceptions. Taylor has also contributed 187 yards rushing and two rushing touchdowns over the course of five games.

Pro Football Focus has him rated as the No. 8 quarterback out of 38 qualifying players.