Buffalo Bills: No timetable on Sammy Watkins return
By Cory Buck
Buffalo Bills head coach Doug Marrone offered precious few details about a potential timetable for the return of rookie wideout Sammy Watkins after he suffered bruised ribs in the team’s third preseason game at the Pittsburgh Steelers. Citing past headaches to The Buffalo News, Marrone deferred to the team’s vice president of communications, Scott Berthold, for injury updates.
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“Injuries are a funny thing,” Marrone said. “I was right 99.9 percent of the time last year and I was wrong one time and I have to live with that. So I think when it comes down to injuries, I’m going to let Scott handle it.”
That one time came last season when Marrone assured reporters EJ Manuel would play the team’s final regular season game. Manuel missed that game and Marrone was scorched for it. “Unless I know for sure, I am not going to comment on when they’re coming back or when they might come back because it’s too difficult,” Marrone concluded.
That doesn’t mean the news is bad for Watkins. It has been confirmed that his rib injury is just a bruise, which is a significant leap up from it being something like a break. However, Marrone didn’t rule out a potential crack in the ribs, not because of anything he knows, but because that’s how ribs work sometimes.
“Sometimes on the X-ray it shows that it’s a crack. Sometimes it shows that it’s not and then you take a better X-ray and there is a crack. Sometimes, depending on the player, you can be out two weeks, four weeks, six weeks or two months.”
Take it easy, Doug. Bills fans have had enough strife to begin the season as it is. If you take Sammy Watkins away from them, you will leave behind a husk of a 2014 season.
While details will remain scant on this and any other Bills injury, it appears that Watkins will be taking precautionary steps in order to ensure he’s ready for Week 1. That’s the only timetable that really matters to the Buffalo Bills.