Matt Milano had surgery for "significant bicep injury", out indefinitely

[Chicken Boo]

Yep...always sucks to see elite talent cut down by injuries.  

 

His prime is officially over at this point.  Happens to the best of em.  

[DrPJax]

3 hours ago, Mikie2times said:

My biggest concern is it's just not that hard to picture Bernard getting hurt. He's undersized and got hurt at Baylor for the entire year before. He plays like Poyer used to. Just all out reckless with his body. Then you have guys like Spector who can't seem to stay healthy. I feel like this group has a quicker path to being completely depleted than making it to the end of the season. 

I agree.  Some of this is just a lot of rationalizing just to make themselves feel better and thinking any player can just Be replaced because “ we won games without him”.  
 

Sure but football  is still a team sport where chemistry and experience actually do count.  If an injury was just in isolation , sure it’s easier to help cover the drop off of the 1/11 th of the guys who started.  These guys become pro bowl players for reasons : first is raw talent and football intelligence. There’s a reason certain guys are pro bowl players or make the HOF.  Denying there is a difference is irrational , these are guys who stand out and more often than others make plays that actually affect game outcomes.  It’s pretty unusual to plug in a second year guy who has had little experience at critical times and not see some drop off.  I don’t accept the Benard / Edmund’s analogy as emunds was way overhyped , rarely made any game changing plays , often made tackles trailing and never shot gaps or consistent with sacks. Bernard played well , but honestly , Edmund’s set a low bar.  How great was Chicago last year with him ; easiest guy to replace on that defense.
     
      But the real issue is just as you pointed out. Football season is about attrition, the teams that are fortunate enough to be healthy come playoff time tend to be successful. Just look at us last year, or the BENGALS  without BURROWS, Or the fins with Hill playing injured.  It’s not just that Milano is down , it’s. Another blow to depth before anything even counts.

      You made a great point about Bernard and our other Lbs like Spector. . So far they also have not proven they can or will stay healthy. You’re right , they are under sized and I would bet none of them goes without missing at least a couple of games this year. So now we are dropping further down the depth , experience, talent pool.  Pretty soon you are playing with guys off the street ,,,,hmm ,,, we’ve seen how well that goes.  Not a single defenesive stop till almost the end of that  KC game.   But hey, we can just plug in the next guy ! 
 

       The larger issue , trying not to miss the forest for the trees, is that this D roster has already taken huge hits in talent and leadership ; guys who have playoff experience runs in their past.   Ok so now Milano , a pro bowler , get replaced by an  athletic guy who couldn’t prove yet he was better than Milano. But this year we’re already missing White( luckily we picked up a VET, who is more physical than white , but he’s older as well and depended on the experienced safety duo to know how to play in this scheme.  He has 1/2 year in this scheme , and has had injuries as he didn’t play well in the KC LOSS.   Now throw in the loss of two 7 year starters , who also has pro bowl talent. Our current senior guy, rapp, was mostly a backup last year. Edward’s ,, expected to fill the experience gap, has been totally gone with injury issues.  The talented rookie  also. Is missing critical reps with injury and most reports from podcasters like Shout, reported he was still struggling Leaning the scheme , just as you would expect with a rookie.   But Who now replaces Poyer ?   Hamlin and Cam Lewis have both been on the field and looked terrible at times.  Try telling me with a straight  face  that there will be no drop off in performance regarding the safety position , a position mcd has always stated is critical in his scheme.   The losses  of experience are adding up., the reality is this is a unique year and It’s no longer just about an isolated loss of Milano.  Just looking at his injury is being beyond simplistic and disregards all the time these teams spend on effective communication! 
 

 

     Our corners and nickel back have always missed some time as well , because they have more run support responsibilities in this scheme that rarely uses three LBS simultaneously on the field. Our #2 cb , also has had injury issues. Looks great while on the field , but I would bet he misses at least two games based on his past injury history.  Suddenly , we are down to Elam , who may be better this year but still hasn’t earned a starting spot. Again , my point is in the ultimate team sport , our cumulative experience level keeps dripping or at least never rises to the level it had been at for years , and we have never  made it to the SB, EVEN with our #2 ranked offense.   Defense matters more in the.playoffs; it always has and it’s why usually the better defensive team wins SB’s. I learned that at a dinner before SB 27 in Pasadena , where Hank Stram ( previous KC sb winning coach famous for stating on NFL FILMS, keep matriculating the ball down the field , Lenny)  
      He was a real interesting speaker but he won me over that year by predicting the upstart  cowboys would dominate the bills in SB  27 based on a formula he developed that was heavy on defensive stats.  Before the game I thought the game might have bypassed him , but nope , he was confident in predicting the bills would lose by more than two tds and he turned out to be right , much to my dismay!  True story! 
 

     So we have only touched on some of the legit concerns. . My point tho is offense can be good and win reg season games games , yet  ours has many times failed to ne  consistent. We have always had periods of the offense stalling , esp in the third quarter. Other than the year of the perfect game against the pats, ending with 13 seconds ( the one year I was really positive we were playing the best and peaking at the right  time and we would win the SB , but then  mcd took over!)., our O has commonly underperformed in the playoffs compared to their reg season success. Heck , last year we beat a bad Steelers team before our offense failed at home, needing  a td (  rather than missed fg attempt) to beat KC  and how did that work OUT ?  So I don’t buy the statements that  I don’t worry about the d, the offense will just win the games. We’ve had good reg season o, but still not even a SB appearance.  Hard to win with just one functional unit playing well. I don’t even want to get into the issues with the offense. Almost a whole new receiving crew , and Knox being hurt already, and it takes time to develop timing and for the oc to know players talents enough to be creative designing plays.  I trust josh but chemistry takes time , and injuries ( claypool) along with poor performance ( MVS , COOK STILL dropping passes) means this might be several games for that o to be efficient and effective.   No guarantees there.! But Josh is great so they could be a surprise but I won’t believe it until I see some results and consistency with this group of wr’s. 
 

     Back  to the D.   All these changes have to have some effect. I guess I could be wrong , but the BILLS cherished that stability and they didn’t just give out starting spots.  I think we can all agree McD expects players to earn playing time, so guys are NOT starters for some performance reason. So lots of stuff going on in the back 7 , and now we also have a new defensive play caller / coordinator.  It’s.a new challenge in Bobbie’s first year calling plays.  Hey, even FRASIER had his play calling yanked at times so it’s just one more variable.    Our DL has been consistently bad at finishing off sacks , especially against KC.  WILL VON be an effective sack artist again?  Epenesa has been progressing, but he’s another guy who can’t stay healthy. Groot is good , certainly not a premier pash rusher. We need more from him than just being good against the run. We have so many legitimate questions , I think is just looking thru rose colored glasses to think losing ANOTHER EXPERIENCED PRO BOWL PLAYER in not a big deal.  The talent and experience considered as a WORKING UNIT that depends on effective communication to be a top unit has to be less effective with less experienced decision making on the field. That just seems like common sense.  Just because we won prior games without him is irrelevant because we did not have all those other changes and losses all at one time in prior years and  we mostly had healthy guys who were experienced playing together.   Your point is the most important ; it’s another blow to depth and its unlikely we don’t experience more injures during the season. Pretty soon we are calling AJ BACK because there is a limitation to who you can plug in.  Williams may have a bright future but it’s naive to think he could create the plays a healthy Milano did on his way to some calling him one of the best lbs in football. 
 

         I get wanting to think that Josh is so good , he’ll turn new receivers into a scoring machine , but it’s a big ask against a tough schedule and I’m sorry , they have to prove they can be an effective o to me now. I guess it’s ok to say Milanos injury is not a big concern because he’s just a WLB, and that position isn’t important. Well, I saw him take  over games at times , and no one I ever talked too thought Edmund’s was a better player than Milano. Saying Milanos injury means very little , everything is still the same , is just wishful thinking and it refuses to look at the loss of more experience without regard to context of where THIS TEAM IS NOW AT THIS POINT IN TIME !  If mcd can pull this off with a 11-12 win season, he could be a candidate for coach of the year!    I wish we could look as Milanos injury as an isolated issue , but Bernard has said how important Matt was in helping see the d , and Milano has still seen more than Bernard and that can make a difference in getting off the field earlier on a couple of series. That spills over to getting Josh more possessions. He is an elite playmaker and even if we lost with him on the field , who knows if that loss was because of offensive turnovers , offensive periods of stalling out, and frankly many times watching the o play without urgency esp facing lower talent opponents.    We can agree to disagree , but I think it’s akin to the straw that broke the camels back ,,,,,,it’ MIGHT BE  too much loss of talent and experience to amount to a null effect. I wish he was there to help stabilize this d. 

[Gregg]

I will always remember this when it comes to Milano.

 

 

[mrags]

8 minutes ago, Gregg said:

I will always remember this when it comes to Milano.

 

 

He probably got hurt on that play 

[The Firebaugh Kid]

I think a lot of us are just tired of having to be resilient all the time. It wears on you. I hope this team has more resolve than I do. I was really looking forward to seeing him back on the field. He’s a real game changer and it sucks to lose him no matter how you slice it. 
Its no season killer, but its damaging for sure. The schedule is brutal.

[TheyCallMeAndy]

19 hours ago, MJS said:

Dorian Williams is not good in coverage. He is good at playing downhill, though. This is not ideal.

Hes ok in man. He’s super athletic, he will learn.

[Coach Tuesday]

16 minutes ago, The Firebaugh Kid said:

I think a lot of us are just tired of having to be resilient all the time. It wears on you. I hope this team has more resolve than I do. 

Man up dude!  Life is difficult.  Football is entertainment.  Resilience is the key to everything in this chaotic world.

[Gregg]

54 minutes ago, mrags said:

He probably got hurt on that play 

 

We know Mike White did. Jets fans were pissed about that hit as Mike White was their hero at the time.

[peterpan]

20 hours ago, TheyCallMeAndy said:

Anyone ever think these injuries happen because guys get too bulky?

 

 

Yes and lose flexibility.  

[DaBillsFanSince1973]

 

[stevestojan]

8 hours ago, Chicken Boo said:

Yep...always sucks to see elite talent cut down by injuries.  

 

His prime is officially over at this point.  Happens to the best of em.  

sadly, it ended at his absolute peak. 

[Saxum]

11 hours ago, Dr. K said:

Does nobody on earth besides me know that “biceps” is always plural? So is “triceps.” 
 

I know, it doesn’t matter. 

 

9 hours ago, Miyagi-Do Karate said:

I actually never knew that! Thanks! 

 

English is a bastard language/

They are Latin words and Latin words do not pluralize by adding an 's'.

Use the full names biceps brachii and triceps brachii. 

 

They originate from Latin words (3 years of Latin here) meaning two and three head (head from ceps derived from Latin word caput).

[C.Biscuit97]

Awful. One of my favorite Bills in a while. Reminds me of Tre. Unfortunately, if there was one “weakness” Milano had, is he’s undersized so the chance for injury was always higher. Plus, he plays like an animal.

 

sucks for him, suck for us. I wish this was madden and you turn the injuries off. 

1 hour ago, The Firebaugh Kid said:

I think a lot of us are just tired of having to be resilient all the time. It wears on you. I hope this team has more resolve than I do. I was really looking forward to seeing him back on the field. He’s a real game changer and it sucks to lose him no matter how you slice it. 
Its no season killer, but its damaging for sure. The schedule is brutal.

It’s football. Injuries happen. Milano getting hurt absolutely sucks and you can’t replace him. But it’s not like they haven’t been here before. Next man up. 
 

if an OLB (even an elite one like Milano) is breaking your season, you weren’t very good to become with. 

[298Woody]

The good news is it will give his leg longer to heal. I think injuries like this are from over training.

[The Firebaugh Kid]

1 hour ago, Coach Tuesday said:

Man up dude!  Life is difficult.  Football is entertainment.  Resilience is the key to everything in this chaotic world.

No way you would tell me to man up if you were standing in front of me sweetheart.
I’m sick and tired of not having our full arsenal of weapons.

If you’re on this message for that means you care a lot about football just like me so save your judgment somebody who gives a *****. 

[Coach Tuesday]

3 minutes ago, The Firebaugh Kid said:

No way you would tell me to man up if you were standing in front of me sweetheart.
I’m sick and tired of not having our full arsenal of weapons.

If you’re on this message for that means you care a lot about football just like me so save your judgment somebody who gives a *****. 

Still lolling at “I’m tired of having to be resilient”… 

[C.Biscuit97]

24 minutes ago, 298Woody said:

The good news is it will give his leg longer to heal. I think injuries like this are from over training.

I salute your ability to find a positive! I do agree that since he couldn’t do anything with his lower half, he strikes me as a guy who would go hard on the top half. But man, that sounds painful. Dude can’t catch a break (bad pun I know 😞).

[DaBillsFanSince1973]

 

[blacklabel]

Dang it. What a bummer for the dude. From what I gathered it seems like the rehab process from his leg fracture was pretty stressful. He gets past all of that, slowly works his way back up to full speed in practices, gets thru camp, and then bam, exploding bicep. I heard there were chunks of Italian Stallion bicep all over da field, new guy's in the corner puking his guts out, BLAARRRGGH!!

 

Nah, I digress. They're a different defense when he's in there. They'll find a way as they always seem to do but I was definitely looking forward to seeing him and Bernard work together. I know Dorian is next man up. He certainly has the athleticism, I think he just needs to control his speed a little more as he sometimes runs himself out of plays. I wonder if they'll look to sign anyone. 

[BiloxiBills]

The defense is more violent when he's on the field.  It's contagious when he's playing.