EJ Manuel walked down the sideline of the Buffalo Bills’ indoor practice facility, heading from the weight-training area to the team’s new locker room. His blue team workout shirt was soaked in sweat as he passed a giant image of the Lombardi Trophy with the words “Don’t confuse effort with results” posted underneath. The combination of the player and picture provided an interesting juxtaposition, especially when you consider how Manuel approached his first full off-season as a professional athlete and the heavy expectations placed squarely on his broad shoulders.
Trading 2015 first- and fourth-round draft picks to move up and take electric receiver Sammy Watkins fourth overall in the 2014 NFL Draft is proof Buffalo’s front office feels like they’re ready to be a legitimate playoff contender. And Manuel’s development will easily be the leading factor in whether or not the team gets to the post-season. While the former Florida State standout flashed potential during his rookie season as he set the team record for touchdown passes by a first-year pro with 11, he was largely inconsistent and hampered by three separate knee injuries. If those two trends continue, Buffalo will again almost assuredly add another year to the league’s longest post-season drought, which dates back to 1999.
But Manuel has done everything in his power this off-season to ensure that he’s both healthier and more efficient in year two. Back in January, the six-foot-five, 240-lb. pivot underwent surgery on his left knee to clean up debris from a sprained LCL that ended his first pro season prematurely. And once the knee was back to full strength, it was time to crank up the training intensity.
“My main focus was building my body up even more to endure a 25-week season, adding in pre-season and playoffs on the front and back end along with the 17-week regular season,” Manuel said.
Working out with San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick—known around the NFL for his tenacious training regimen—helped Manuel learn how relentless he needed to become with his own workouts.
“He goes very hard in the weight room and very hard as far as footwork drills,” Manuel explained. “He does it on his own and doesn’t need a strength or speed coach to tell him what to do. As you get older in your career that’s what you have to learn as a professional. You need to be able to know your body well enough.”
After pumping iron with Kaepernick at Bommarito Performance Systems in North Miami Beach, it was off to California for two one-week sessions with personal quarterback trainer Steve Calhoun. The main goal: Continue to build a strong, repeatable delivery of the football. Manuel completed 58.8 percent of his throws in 10 starts as a rookie, but he struggled to push the ball down the field. According to Pro Football Focus, Manuel connected on just 34.1 percent of his pass attempts of 20 or more yards down the field in 2013, ranking 32nd out of 41 quarterbacks to attempt 175 or more passes.
“I’ve been working to make my [passes] come out even more accurately, consistently,” Manuel said.
Next on the schedule was organizing throwing sessions with teammates around the country. Manuel sent out text messages to fellow Bills players three or four weeks in advance about where he planned to hold team workouts. He spent time in Los Angeles, Austin and Miami, where he makes his off-season home, for informal pass-and-catch time.
“In years past a lot of quarterbacks have done it. Even when I was in college we were always together so you didn’t really have to travel to go throw to your receivers—you lived right down the street from each other,” Manuel said. “Obviously in the NFL we live all over the country.”
The gesture didn’t go unnoticed by his teammates.
“Really, it’s not even about the extra work it’s about building camaraderie with your boys and feeling comfortable around each other,” says second-year receiver Marquise Goodwin. “When off-season time comes around guys are ready to get out and just do their own thing, so when you get somebody like EJ who is willing to put time into travelling to see us and get better, that speaks a lot for itself.”
Along with Manuel working to get his body ready, refining his throwing mechanics and developing a better feel with Bills receivers, he overhauled his eating habits. Dan Liburd, the dietician in charge of the Bills’ nutrition programs, took Manuel on a shopping trip to show him which foods to make part of his daily intake.
“It was just a matter of making the added couple steps to get that done instead of ‘Hey, I’m on my way home, let me stop at Wendy’s.’ That’s not going to help you,” Manuel said. “That’s [fast food], not the fuel you need to help take this team to the playoffs.”
Yes—he said the “p” word. It’s been rolling off the tongues of players and coaches this pre-season, and there’s lots of talent around Manuel on the Bills offence to help get there. CJ Spiller, Fred Jackson and Bryce Brown provide plenty of options for creativity in the run game. And Watkins, Goodwin, Robert Woods and Mike Williams give Manuel plenty of talented pass targets.
But talent alone won’t be enough. In pre-season action Manuel struggled to find a rhythm and display the type of chemistry with receivers to evoke confidence for the regular schedule. During five NFL exhibition outings, Manuel went 50-82 passing for 517 yards, one touchdown, two interceptions, one fumble lost and six sacks taken. Numbers showing Manuel possibly hitting a plateau and causing concern.
“I would love to see EJ come on,” Bills Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly said recently on Sirius XM NFL Radio. “He’s a great leader. I’ve heard him to speak to the team; I’ve heard him speak to the receivers before they take the field. His leadership is there. Everything is there. But I have not yet seen what we all want to see. And I’m sure he feels the same way.”
Anyone who knows Manuel will tell you that’s probably an understatement.
“Make no mistake about it—he’s very, very hard on himself and very intense and that’s the part people don’t see,” says head coach Doug Marrone, who also expressed confidence in his young signal-caller. “We’re going to work with him. He’s working hard to progress and we’re going to stick with him. I’m going to support him 110 percent.”
Marrone believes patience is needed when trying to develop young quarterbacks in the NFL.
“He’s not going to turn around and be a franchise guy overnight, that doesn’t happen often in this league,” he says. “We’re living in a world where everybody wants it now. There is no doubt the player wants it now and we want it now, but these things take time.”
Trouble is Buffalo has been waiting so long that it’s always going to be about now—not later. So, fair or not, Manuel must promptly turn his off-season of hard work into results—just like the words displayed on the wall inside the Bills facility, below the NFL’s Championship trophy—or none of it will matter.