Matt Milano - rusty or washed?

[Beck Water]

On 12/31/2024 at 12:22 PM, Simon said:

He may not be ready to play meaningful snaps, but he absolutely should be in front of Spector in an emergency imo.

 

McDermott said he expects Buffalo Joe to play a lot on Sunday.  

Where he is relative to Spector on the depth chart isn't relevant, since Spector went on IR prior to the Jets game.

 

I guess Spector would be eligible to return from IR if the Bills make it to the AFC Championship game? but barring emergencies if we make it that far without him I can't see the Bills dusting him off and throwing him out there.  

[Orlando Buffalo]

At this point of year I think we can state with certainty that our best three LBs are Bernard, Williams and Milano. I hope all three are healthy because the drop from them to next best is too much

[GETTOTHE50]

25 minutes ago, klos63 said:

Yep, held him to 199 yards rushing, 8.3 ypc.

Pretty impressive for one man to do that against a freight train 

[Beck Water]

9 minutes ago, GETTOTHE50 said:

Pretty impressive for one man to do that against a freight train 

 

 

And it comes to be that the soothing light at the end of your tunnel....is just a freight train coming your way

[Beck Water]

10 minutes ago, Orlando Buffalo said:

At this point of year I think we can state with certainty that our best three LBs are Bernard, Williams and Milano. I hope all three are healthy because the drop from them to next best is too much

 

At any point of the year where they were all active, we could state with certainty that our best 3 LBs are Bernard, Milano, and Williams...that's why they're the starters

 

Yes, with Spector on IR (and not playing well for the 2 games he was off it) our depth at LB is once again looking might-t thin.  Buffalo Joe has promise, but is a rookie;  Morrow is 32, has only had a couple of cameo appearances and the fact that he's been behind Spector and Buffalo Joe on the depth chart is telling; Ulofoshio is a rookie and has only played ST.  We don't have any linebackers on the practice squad, either.

I have to think the key question for Brandon Beane is whether he's extremely and extraordinarily nervous about the lack of quality LB depth, or only very nervous.

[Orlando Buffalo]

5 minutes ago, Beck Water said:

 

At any point of the year where they were all active, we could state with certainty that our best 3 LBs are Bernard, Milano, and Williams...that's why they're the starters

 

Yes, with Spector on IR (and not playing well for the 2 games he was off it) our depth at LB is once again looking might-t thin.  Buffalo Joe has promise, but is a rookie;  Morrow is 32, has only had a couple of cameo appearances and the fact that he's been behind Spector and Buffalo Joe on the depth chart is telling; Ulofoshio is a rookie and has only played ST.  We don't have any linebackers on the practice squad, either.

I have to think the key question for Brandon Beane is whether he's extremely and extraordinarily nervous about the lack of quality LB depth, or only very nervous.

We actually have more depth than most, since we run a 4-2 most often,  having even one quality backup is not normal in the NFL. Buffalo Joe is the best of the rest but I don't think sees the play at this point. 

[Beck Water]

56 minutes ago, Orlando Buffalo said:

We actually have more depth than most, since we run a 4-2 most often,  having even one quality backup is not normal in the NFL. Buffalo Joe is the best of the rest but I don't think sees the play at this point. 

 

I don't know about "normal in the NFL", but if a team wants to win it all in the post season they better have quality backups at some key positions.

 

And MLB is one of them.  We started the season with Spector as Bernard's backup, and it was pretty clear there was a substantial drop off.

Now we're down to ?3rd string at MLB and Bernard nursing a quad injury

 

We kind of need a prayer wheel for Bernard's good health, because him going down from (if I recall correctly) 'friendly fire' from Rapp, led to us playing AJ Klein (hot off the sofa) at MLB against KC.  It would not be fair to pin the loss on Klein at all, but playing what one chap here referred to as "The Little Sisters of the Poor" at LB was certainly one factor in KC's victory

Edited Thursday at 04:47 AM by Beck Water

[Beck Water]

2 hours ago, Beck Water said:

 

I don't have the game film to review, but Dorian Williams was only on the field 40% of the snaps, not enough to fill in for the 44% of the snaps Milano was off the field for,.  Buffalo Joe took over for Bernard, and no other LB played snaps on defense.  Rapp and Bishop played 100%, and Ingram and Codrington took over for Benford and Douglas.

 

Cam Lewis, on the other hand, was on the field more than the 40% needed to back up Taron Johnson. 

Rather than playing 4-3 base, I think the Bills were actually playing a "big nickel" variant (sorta dime?) where they took out a linebacker and brought in Cam Lewis.  Along with that, they may have used Quinton Jefferson or Greg Rousseau as a "joker" on the DL ("heavy LB or hybrid DL/DE").  I believe they used to do this sort of set with Lorenzo Alexander and I believe it was how they hoped to use Jefferson when they initially brought him in back in 2020.  Only then Lotulelei "opted out" on the season, and the Bills were left scrambling to fill the 1T position, so much for that.

 

A little bit gauche to follow up my own post, but I was just reading a Joe B article in the Athletic that confirmed what I deduced:

 

Quote

Although the Bills didn’t face many third-and-long situations early in the game, once they did, Milano returned to the same role against the 49ers and Rams. He took all the early-down work and stayed on the field for third-and-short plays. But when the Jets entered obvious passing situations, Milano left the field and was once again replaced by Lewis. That may have been a product of this being Milano’s first game back from a one-week absence with a groin injury. However, Lewis has played his bevy of roles this season well, to the point where the Bills view him as an asset to their defense. It would not be a surprise if, as long as the safeties and nickel corner Taron Johnson are all healthy, this trend continues into the playoffs — especially after the Bills had the amount of defensive success they did against the Jets.

 

Rather than playing 4-3, what the Bills were doing was pulling Milano on 3rd and longs and bringing in Cam Lewis as a dime back.

[GunnerBill]

Milano was one of our best players on a Sunday for me. I was super impressed with him when I looked at all22. His best performance since the injury without any doubt. 

[dave mcbride]

6 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

Milano was one of our best players on a Sunday for me. I was super impressed with him when I looked at all22. His best performance since the injury without any doubt. 

Would you play him at all this week given the lack of snaps or try and avoid the risk of injury? 

[ColoradoBills]

7 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

Milano was one of our best players on a Sunday for me. I was super impressed with him when I looked at all22. His best performance since the injury without any doubt. 

 

He is trending very good.  He still isn't 100% or he wouldn't still be wearing the brace.

I'm hoping that can come off in the playoffs.

[JP51]

I am going in between ... I wouldnt say washed I would say diminished. I think some is rust for sure... I just think he will have diminished abilities when you combine type of injury, over all injury history and age with the amount of extended time missed. 

[stlbills13]

Milano looked good Sunday although my 5'9 160 lb self may have been able to complete at linebacker against that Jets team. But Milano is still trending well. He's pretty key to the playoffs in my opinion. I don't have high hopes for the defensive line to bring their A game for 60 minutes a night so Milano/Bernard need to be there to stop the run and at least slow down the pass game 

[Bills!Win!]

3 minutes ago, ColoradoBills said:

 

He is trending very good.  He still isn't 100% or he wouldn't still be wearing the brace.

I'm hoping that can come off in the playoffs.

Is it safe for the brace to

come off 5 months after injury ?

[Big Turk]

I mean he is starting to look better and better to me each game...

 

Those two violent fumble recoveries he has had since being back aren't nothing either. Dude dove on those balls like a dog trying to get a bone coming in from a long ways away to get it when other players were a lot closer.

Edited Thursday at 05:29 PM by Big Turk

[ColoradoBills]

2 minutes ago, Bills!Win! said:

Is it safe for the brace to

come off 5 months after injury ?

 

I have no idea.  I guess my point is IF it does come off it must be a good sign on his recovery progress.

[Bills!Win!]

16 minutes ago, Big Turk said:

I mean he is starting to look better and better to me each game...

 

Those two violent fumble recoveries he has had since being back aren't nothing either. Dude dove on those balls like a dog trying to get a bone coming in from a long ways away to get it when other players were a lot closer.

The reason why everyone on here is so hard on him is because of the injuries.

 

The fact that he lays his body on the line is what makes him stand out, but it’s also the reason why he’s injury prone. People need to take the good with the bad 

[Big Turk]

1 minute ago, Bills!Win! said:

The reason why everyone on here is so hard on him is because of the injuries.

 

The fact that he lays his body on the line is what makes him stand out, but it’s also the reason why he’s injury prone. People need to take the good with the bad 

+

You could see Aaron Rodgers wanted no part of that once he saw him coming in.

[Beck Water]

34 minutes ago, dave mcbride said:

Would you play him at all this week given the lack of snaps or try and avoid the risk of injury? 

 

Depends on intangibles.  He's one game back from a groin.  Only he and the Bills trainers and coaches can balance the need to rest and rehab vs. the need for more playing time to polish off more of the rust.

[GunnerBill]

1 hour ago, dave mcbride said:

Would you play him at all this week given the lack of snaps or try and avoid the risk of injury? 

 

Ordinarily I'd sit him but if Bernard is down I'd probaly have Matt up and let him play a series or two.