Buffalo Bills place Matt Milano on injured reserve before Week 9

Matt Milano, Buffalo Bills (Photo by Brett Carlsen/Getty Images)
Matt Milano, Buffalo Bills (Photo by Brett Carlsen/Getty Images)

The Buffalo Bills made a few roster moves on Saturday, including placing Matt Milano on injured reserve.

The Buffalo Bills knew entering Sunday’s game with the Seattle Seahawks that they were going to be without Matt Milano after ruling him out on Friday. However, on Saturday that absence was extending after they placed their starting linebacker on injured reserve.

He will now miss at least the next three regular-season games which means he missed this game against the Seattle Seahawks and next week’s game against the Arizona Cardinals. However, with a bye after the Cardinals game, he is only eligible to return Week 13 against the San Francisco 49ers.

This season was expected to be a big year for Milano as he was entering the final year of his rookie contract. The Bills drafted Milano in the fifth round of the 2017 NFL Draft but it wasn’t really until last year that he became a full-time starter.

In 2019, Milano finished the season with 101 total tackles and 1.5 sacks while playing 86% of the team’s defensive snaps. This year has been a different story as Milano suffered a hamstring injury in Week 1 against the New York Jets. He missed Week 2 due to the injury and returned the following week.

However, his time on the field was short-lived as he suffered a pec injury against the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 4. This is the injury that has been an issue for the linebacker and after returning in Week 7 and Week 8 in a limited capacity, he will now try to get the injury fully healed while on injured reserve.

There is no question this will be a big loss for the Buffalo Bills defense. He is an athletic linebacker that was a big part of this pass defense, specifically covering tight ends and running backs coming out of the backfield. The team has turned to A.J. Klein as a replacement but he has struggled in this role.

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