Rex Ryan to decide on starting QB on Sunday, won't make pick public

ByMike Rodak ESPN logo
Sunday, August 30, 2015

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- Buffalo Bills coach Rex Ryan will decide on his starting quarterback Sunday, one day after his team's four quarterbacks went a combined 30-for-33 passing for 395 yards and three touchdowns in a 43-19 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Ryan will not make his decision public, hoping to keep the Indianapolis Colts -- the Bills' Week 1 opponent -- from knowing the starter.

"This is the ideal situation we had talked about," Ryan said Saturday. "This is exactly what I wanted, where all three guys played to their abilities. That's all I was hoping for. I had confidence in all three of them and they did a tremendous job."

EJ Manuel started Saturday's game, playing the first two drives and then re-entering the game in the third quarter. He finished 7-for-8 passing for 170 yards and a perfect 158.3 quarterback rating. Overall for the preseason, Manuel went 20-of-30 passing for 358 yards.

Tyrod Taylor completed 12 of 13 passes for 122 yards, leading the Bills on 80- and 78-yard touchdown drives, including a 20-yard touchdown run of his own. Taylor completed 24 of 31 passes in the preseason for 236 yards.

Matt Cassel played two drives Saturday, completing 6 of 7 passes for 38 yards. He finished the preseason 13-of-15 passing for 83 yards.

"I don't know if everybody thought we were going to have the scenario that I brought up: when we said that we wanted all three guys to play well," Ryan said. "As a coach, this is exactly what you want."

Ryan said he assumes that Manuel, Taylor and Cassel will all make the Bills' cut to 53 players next week "unless something else happens."

Fourth-string quarterback Matt Simms will start the Bills' preseason finale Sept. 3 against the Detroit Lions and is expected to play the entire game. Simms was 5-of-5 passing for 65 yards against the Steelers.