EJ Manuel injury: Doug Marrone not upset about Manuel staying inbounds

In case you somehow missed it last night, Buffalo Bills quarterback EJ Manuel left the Bills' 37-24 loss to the Cleveland Browns on Thursday Night Football with a right knee injury that, according to head coach Doug Marrone, was diagnosed as a sprain. He did not return, and a 24-17 Bills lead evaporated as the Browns scored 20 straight second-half points, teeing off on a porous Bills secondary and backup quarterback Jeff Tuel.

Manuel was injured running up the left sideline to convert a first down on a scramble. As he stayed inbounds to try to pick up extra yardage, Browns defensive back Tashaun Gipson hit Manuel on the knee, sending his legs whipping out of bounds. As soon as Manuel landed, he grabbed his right knee in pain. The injury looked much more serious than it was, with Manuel not moving on the sideline for several minutes until he stood up and walked off. He'd spend several minutes on the sideline walking, hopping in place and riding an exercise bike before ultimately retiring to the locker room.

Reporters asked Marrone after the game whether or not he would have liked to see Manuel forego the extra yardage in lieu of getting safely out of bounds in that type of situation. Marrone responded in the negative.

"No, I'm sure the kid wanted to score a touchdown," Marrone said. He'd later add, "I don't think I'm ever going to tell someone not to score a touchdown."

Reporters again pressed Marrone on the subject, at which point Marrone turned the question back on the reporters.

"EJ's a tough kid. He took a shot, he scrambled, he made a first down (and) he was trying to score a touchdown. What do you say? 'Don't scramble, don't score touchdowns.' What do you think?"

The questioner responded with, "Go out of bounds."

"'Go out of bounds?' I'm sure he was working his way to the sideline," Marrone concluded.