Earlier this month the Buffalo Bills placed injured wide receiver Marcus Easley, their fourth round pick in this year’s draft, on injured reserve with a major knee injury, making him ineligible to take the field for the team for the 2010 season.
But according to a report by Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post, he cites a source saying Easley is already off crutches, did NOT tear his ACL and could’ve returned to play as early as the first month of the regular season.
When does the nonsense over at One Bills Drive ever end?
After last season the Bills overhauled their strength and conditioning staff by hiring Eric Ciano and John Gamble to run the department. But maybe the problem isn’t really with their conditioning or coaches for that matter in recent years. Perhaps the bigger issue is with either the team doctors charged with the responsibility of diagnosing injuries and/or the decision makers in the front office who ultimately conclude what to do with said injuries.
When Easley along with sixth round rookie Danny Batten (shoulder) were placed on injured reserve, head coach Chan Gailey indicated to the media that the length of the injuries would make it impossible for them to be contributors for 2010.
“Obviously, it’s not what we wanted but it’s just something that had to be done looking at the long term prognosis for both of them,” Gailey told reporters at the time of the transactions. ”We just couldn’t see, time-wise, that it was going to benefit them to try to make it back this year.”
Looks like he was wrong.
The Bills took Easley early in the fourth round to the surprise of many reporters, including this one. In fact, at the time I hated the pick, but quickly rescinded my assessment once I saw him perform in OTAs. The man looked big, much bigger in person than you’d think, and showed exceptional hands, route running and deceptive speed. Going into training camp he looked to have a legit chance to win a starting role alongside Lee Evans, or at the very least earn extensive playing time in his first season.
That’s all gone now. Like my colleague Nick Mendola correctly pointed out in his column about the situation, it’s rare to see a rookie wide receiver make big contributions in his first year, and he cites Devin Thomas, Malcomb Kelly, Limas Sweed and our own James Hardy as recent examples. Mendola is absolutely correct, but it’s a lot more than just being about productivity. Easley now loses a full season of valuable playing experience.
If Wilson’s report turns out to be accurate, and I have every confidence to believe that it is, then Easley basically is a rookie all over again in 2011 when he could’ve entered season two of his career with the rigors of a NFL season already under his belt.
This also isn’t the first time recently that Bills brass screwed up a diagnosis. In 2007 Paul Posluszny broke his forearm in the third game of his rookie season. He was placed on injured reserve though the way it played out he could’ve returned for the final month of the regular season. Then the next year the team placed Angelo Crowell on IR with a knee injury, even though the procedure would’ve only kept him out a maximum of the first four games of the season. Of course, that move was much more personal than any medical diagnostic, but we don’t need to get into that.
Reporters, bloggers and scribes alike at every level of notoriety who cover the Bills catch a lot of heat when they openly criticize the organization. I’ve been labeled a “hater” among countless other negative nominations by fans in recent emails and comments that doesn’t bare repeating.
But how even the most ardent of Bills’ optimists can’t be disturbed at this Easley revelation is beyond me. These are exactly the type of personnel moves the organization makes that gives them a league-wide perception of futility in decision making.
Frankly, right now it’s deserved.
3 Comments on Looks Like Bills Fumbled on Easley Diagnosis
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Good article! The Bills are a joke and a disgrace to the NFL. It all starts at the top with old ralphy. The sooner he no longer owns and controls the team the better. Hopefully that will not occur until at least 1/1/11 when his heirs will be forced to pay a very steep estate tax! It would be their just reward for letting their old man screw with so many loyal Bills fans for so long. I can’t wait for a new owner who will fire old buddy and Modrak!
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