The Buffalo Bills will once again have to make due without the backbone of their defense with linebacker Matt Milano out indefinitely and expected to miss at least the first few months of the season with a torn left biceps.
Bills coach Sean McDermott called it “an unfortunate situation,” in providing the update on Milano on Thursday before Buffalo opened a joint practice at the Steelers’ facility. The teams will then meet in a preseason game at Pittsburgh on Saturday.
Milano was hurt when it appeared his arm was hit during a routine tackling drill on Tuesday. He is scheduled to have surgery and, barring complications, has a chance to return by December.
The injury is the latest setback for the 30-year-old. Milano was being eased back since being cleared to resume practice in mid-June after recovering from a broken right leg, which forced him to miss the final 12 games of last season.
“That’s probably one of the hardest pills to swallow right now, is we just saw him work his butt off … and now this happened,” McDermott said. “He’s resilient and we’ve got to be resilient. We’ve got to move forward and be focused on solutions.”
The four-time defending AFC East champion Bills currently don’t have many answers on their roster in once again having to replace the 2022 All-Pro, who plays a critical role in Buffalo’s two-linebacker defensive system alongside middle linebacker Terrel Bernard.
Though relatively undersized at 6 feet and 223 pounds, Milano’s sideline-to-sideline speed, and hard-hitting ability has led to him being a three-down player since his rookie season in 2017.
Milano’s injury further exposes the Bills’ lack of experience on defense following an offseason of salary cap-forced turnover, which led to the breakup of the team’s veteran secondary. Also not re-signed was backup linebacker Tyrel Dodson, who is now in Seattle and who started 10 games in place of Milano last season.
Milano’s primary backups are second-year player Dorian Williams and rookie fifth-round pick Edefuan Ulofoshio.
The only backup linebackers on Buffalo’s roster with more than three seasons of NFL experience are Deion Jones and Nicholas Morrow, who has missed a large portion of training camp with an ankle injury.
“Dorian’s going to do a good job. He’s been making progress,” McDermott said. “You’re never going to replace a player like Matt or Matt’s influence. But it’s time for our team to move forward in a resilient manner and pick each other up. And guys like Dorian have to step up.”
McDermott also announced backup third-year linebacker Baylon Spector will miss at least a week with a calf injury.
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