Buffalo Quarterback Kelly May Be Playing in 4 Weeks

Injured Buffalo quarterback Jim Kelly will “practice in three weeks and play in four,” the Bills announced today.

“This is absolutely the best news we could have had,” General Manager Bill Polian said at a news conference.

Polian said a magnetic resonance imaging scan of Kelly’s left knee confirmed that Kelly suffered a partial tear in the medial collateral ligament and a small partial tear in the cartilage in back of the left knee in the second quarter of Saturday’s 17-13 victory over the New York Giants.

Kelly will undergo standard rehabilitation procedures until he can return to practicing, Polian said.

If Kelly is able to play in four weeks, his first game would be on the weekend of Jan. 12-13. That would be the Bills’ first playoff game if they beat Miami this Sunday to clinch the AFC East championship.

If the Bills lose to Miami, they could face a wild-card playoff game a week earlier, and would have to use backup quarterback Frank Reich.

Kelly, who did not appear at today’s news conference, said Monday a brace he was wearing on his knee during the Giants game probably prevented a much more serious condition.

“If it wasn’t for my knee brace I had on, I probably wouldn’t be standing here talking to you right now because it definitely cut off some of the pressure that was put on it by Will,” he said, referring to teammate Will Wolford, the 295-pound tackle who fell into Kelly, causing the injury.

“If it wasn’t for the knee brace being taped the way it was, I would have probably blown (the knee) out,” he said.

Kelly, the NFL’s top-rated passer going into last weekend, is definitely out for the Bills’ final two regular-season games, including Sunday’s rematch with the 11-3 Dolphins, who handed Buffalo the first of its two losses this season.

A victory over the Dolphins would give Buffalo its third straight AFC East title, the home-field advantage in the playoffs and a bye in the opening round.

“This is the one everybody was looking forward to playing, including myself,” Kelly said. “It’s a game when you play against a team like the Miami Dolphins with such a great coach and quarterback . . . this is what everybody dreams about. This is what everybody lives for. I’m just going to be watching this from the sideline. It hurts.”