Matt Milano - rusty or washed?

[Matt_In_NH]

2 hours ago, skibum said:

Hopefully they will give Milano some rest during this final stretch of very winnable games. 

Or more play time to get back up to his peak level.

[Blackbeard]

Love all the armchair QBs out here screaming about Milano.    

 

If he wasn't the best option, the Bills would not be playing him.  

 

I defer to the staff for choices like this.  Not myself, or the audience.  

[rajinka]

2 hours ago, HereComesTheReignAgain said:

Why would anyone make a machete out of paper?

Paper cuts are wicked man

[MR8]

I think people are forgetting how much time Milano has missed with two entirely different injuries requiring very different rehabs.  I think his return this year was always going to be a "get back in the flow" kind of year and next year is when we'll know "washed" or not...

 

He shows some flashes where he looks like old Milano, then he hesitates too much on a play and gets washed by a lineman or misses the tackle due to a bad angle.  But not playing for over a year and rehabbing will do that.  The instincts are there, the reaction time just seems a bit off. Execution also seems a bit off. 

 

Let's also not forget that his strength isn't going to be the same it would normally be coming back from a torn pectoral. There's only so much lifting he's going to be able to do to get himself back.

 

It's funny because he took that leg injury last year, and talked about how tough it was not being able to do leg work so he focused on his upper body. Now it's been the opposite where he was able to do some cardio work while he was down, but he couldn't do anything upper body. He's still trying to get literally everything back in football condition and trust his body to do what he's thinking about. And don't think for a second that those injuries aren't in the back of his head every time he hits somebody too. That's only natural and all players say it takes a while for that to go away. 

 

He's still better than Dorian Williams, and to me it's not even close... Williams is a freak but his football IQ has been lacking IMO... Hopefully watching Matt he'll pick more up. Don't even get me started on how terribly Baylon Spector is... Dude singlehandedly gave them 60 yards on the last drive by being entirely unable to cover anyone.  They just threw to his area of the field over and over.  

 

Hopefully Milano's groin isn't serious, he needs more reps before the playoffs to help him get right.  

[GASabresIUFan]

I was listening to Marino's All-22 review podcast and he said something I've posted about earlier in this thread.  He thinks that the Bills defense is better with Williams on the field vs Milano.  I agree.  

 

The next 3 weeks in some respects are like the pre-season all over again for many guys on defense.  The Bills need to continue to win in order to solidify a top 2 seed, but they also need to try to keep (or get) key starters healthy in order to go deep in the playoffs.  

 

Given that backdrop, for Milano, Williams, Lewis, Elam, Ingram, Jefferson, Phillips, Solomon, Carter and others these next 3 games about solidifying your place on the defense.  I suspect Babich and McD will be rotating players more than ever to get the depth PT and to hopefully avoid more injuries.  I'd like to see McD create a serious competition between Williams and Milano to determine the playoff starter.

[jethro_tull]

time will tell......

[FireChans]

As the OP, I will say that Milano looked better this week than the last two weeks. 

[BullBuchanan]

He's clearly playing injured without using his arm at all a lot of the time. Milano is my favorite Bill, but they need to sit him down until he's healthy. Williams represents a significant upgrade over this version of Matt.

[theRalph]

He'll be fine. He's still getting calloused. 

[Ray Stonada]

When we get to the playoffs, I hope we play the most capable guy, whether it's Milano or not. No more playing an injured/ancient guy like Milano or Klein and getting shredded, please. 

[Kelly to Allen]

11 minutes ago, BullBuchanan said:

He's clearly playing injured without using his arm at all a lot of the time. Milano is my favorite Bill, but they need to sit him down until he's healthy. Williams represents a significant upgrade over this version of Matt.

I thought Milano looked good vs Detroit. 

[Dan]

I think Williams has looked far better than Milano the last few weeks.  But, any reasonable person would have to have known that it was going to take Milano 4? plus games to get back into any sort of form.  Hence, I think it was good they’ve been playing him…after we secured a playoff spot. 
 

Now.. the big question is.. how much does his groin injury set that back?    It’s a careful balance to get him back into game shape, not aggravate that injury, and still win.   I stand by what I’ve been thinkin… I’d start Williams and keep him in the games mentally.  Then bring Milano in to provide relief and slowly bring him along.   
 

Milano is the better player…IF he can return to form.  But if the playoffs started Sunday?  I’d have Williams in over him and it’s not even close. 

[Bills!Win!]

How much does Milano play against the Patriots? Maybe he plays the first half so he gets some time in and then can rest?

 

He played exceptionally well yesterday. I only saw one (maybe) two missed shoestring tackles 

[Jauronimo]

1 minute ago, Bills!Win! said:

How much does Milano play against the Patriots? Maybe he plays the first half so he gets some time in and then can rest?

 

He played exceptionally well yesterday. I only saw one (maybe) two missed shoestring tackles 

One of those was on Davante Adams.  Bit of a mismatch there but he still nearly made the play.

[BearNorth]

2 minutes ago, Bills!Win! said:

How much does Milano play against the Patriots? Maybe he plays the first half so he gets some time in and then can rest?

 

He played exceptionally well yesterday. I only saw one (maybe) two missed shoestring tackles 

He also won the scrum on Wilson's fumble.

[gonzo1105]

He still looked like he was lumbering out there despite the play he made yesterday. Williams should be playing but McDermott has a loyalty to Milano first 

2 minutes ago, BearNorth said:

He also won the scrum on Wilson's fumble.

Let’s be frank, if Rodgers put in literally any effort on that play he would have recovered it 

[NickelCity]

He looks slow, but looks to be quicker than a few games ago. Two more weeks to get right...

[Kelly to Allen]

He looked really good vs the jets. I'm excited 

[ColoradoBills]

Milano is still not 100%.  If he was, he wouldn't still be wearing a brace.

I'm curious if that thing will come off for the playoffs.

He seems to still be trending up so I am very hopeful for how much of an impact he can be going forward.

 

Just to do a recap.  It seems that the Bills did the wise thing and let Matt work his way back.

He was a liability to start with BUT it just may have been worth it in the long run.

[Kelly to Allen]

17 minutes ago, Bills!Win! said:

How much does Milano play against the Patriots? Maybe he plays the first half so he gets some time in and then can rest?

 

He played exceptionally well yesterday. I only saw one (maybe) two missed shoestring tackles 

Maybe a couple series? Maybe none. I really liked his progress in the jets game and this is good news