BY DAN BEGNOCHE
Buffalo Bills quarterback E.J. Manuel had anything but a normal rookie campaign. Marred by injury, the first-round pick appeared in 10 games and eventually underwent knee surgery following the conclusion of the season.
Drafted as the team's quarterback for the future, the 24-year-old's opportunity to grab the reins of the offense in his first year was hindered by his absence and rehabilitation.
For his sophomore year, however, it looks like Manuel's taking full advantage of the time he has now, particularly while he's healthy.
Prior to voluntary offseason workouts at One Bills Drive, Manuel has been working out off-campus, conducting workouts in California. And similar to other divisional quarterbacks, he's brought some key offensive weapons along with him.
Tight end Tony Moeaki was one of those weapons, part of a half dozen or so other players to join his quarterback on the West Coast before the start of organized team workouts, which begin Tuesday. While talking on the John Murphy Show Thursday, Moeaki praised the young QB for his planning and execution of the workouts.
"It was E.J.'s show out there," he said. "He took control of it. He had everything planned out. He had the routes we were going to run pre-planned and he was calling out our plays, so it was nice to hear some of the terminology again.
"We were just throwing routes, and we were just working on different looks. Like I said, we all got a lot of work in. E.J., credit to him, he kind of planned that whole thing and had everything all squared away when we got there."
According to an offseason photo from the team's website, teammates who accompanied Manuel and Moeaki in Cali included wide receivers Brandon Kaufman, Stevie Johnson and Kevin Elliot, while other reports had fellow receiver Robert Woods and running back C.J. Spiller in the mix, as well. That's obviously good news for Bills fans. Work with as many offensive playmakers as possible can only help the team's passing game, which was troublesome at best last year with a constant change under center.
Moeaki is currently one of five tight ends on the Bills roster, and he'll be in heavy competition for playing time following the contract extensions of Scott Chandler and Mike Caussin.
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