One of Buffalo’s best defensive players will once again be sidelined due to injury.
Head coach Sean McDermott confirmed in his Thursday press conference that linebacker Matt Milano has suffered a torn biceps and will be out indefinitely.
“As far as Matt’s concerned, it’s an unfortunate situation,” McDermott said. “Matt’s a strong young man. I know he’s going to handle this. It’s certainly tough, especially coming off of the year he came off of already. The good thing is, he’s got a good family behind him that [is] going to support him. Teammates that are going to support him, as well as the coaching staff and our entire football organization.
“He’s resilient. We’ve got to be resilient. We’ve got to move forward and be focused on solutions.”
Milano’s injury is especially unfortunate for the player, as he was returning from a fractured leg that prematurely ended his 2023 season after just five games. McDermott said the team believes Milano suffered the torn biceps during a tackling drill.
McDermott also noted that it’s too early to say whether or not Milano will be able to return at some point during the 2024 season.
“We’re all human at the end of the day,” McDermott said. “Matt’s a heck of a football player. But if we back up and those of us that know Matt, he’s a tremendous young man. he’s got a good head on his shoulders. He’s been through it. This game means a lot to him. This team means a lot to him. And so, that in addition to the injury, is what makes this difficult.
“Again, when you know the person, you know that this is not going to beat or keep Matt Milano down. Obviously, this period of time right now has been tough for him — for all of us, but particularly for him and his family. He knows all the work that he put in. No one knows the work that Matt put in to get himself back to where he was before this recent injury. So, that’s probably one of the harder pills to swallow right now, is we just saw him work his butt off. He stayed in Buffalo all summer to get back off of the leg injury and now this happens. So, it’s an unfortunate set of circumstances, but I know he’s going to handle it well.”
The team will look to young linebacker Dorian Williams to step up, but McDermott said replacing Milano won’t only fall on him.
“Yeah, Dorian’s going to do a good job,” McDermott said. “He’s been making progress and it’s now not only his time to step up, but all of his teammates around him to step up. It’s not just one person’s job to try and fill the void left by Matt. We’re never going to replace a player like Matt or Matt’s influence. But now it’s time for our team to move forward in a resilient manner and pick each other up.”