Matt Milano - rusty or washed?

[Riverboat Ritchie]

19 hours ago, Buffalo03 said:

It's his second game back after pretty much 2 years of not playing. Let's give him a little bit before calling him washed

Agree with this but still think we need to play Williams more.  

[CSBill]

I've been away, so I couldn't post this until now, but Milano has been bad. I think his presence has hurt the defense. He was below average last week, but the conditions masked it. But he made up for it by being awful yesterday. He couldn't cover, and they ran all over us. Williams may not have the natural football IQ or instincts, but his speed makes up for it. That speed could have been helpful yesterday when the Rams were having their way with our linebackers and secondary. Remember, he was leading the team in tackles and, I think, the NFL, before he was relegated to the bench.

[harmonkillebrew]

He might get back to form, but the question should be: do we have the luxury to wait?

We're losing seeding, which is important come playoffs. I don't think we should let an obviously currently inferior Milano play every snap over Dorian.

[L Ron Burgundy]

Let's just give him a little pcp before plays.  He'll forget all about his knee.

[dma0034]

It seems odd to me that we all see Milano is struggling but the coaching staff does nothing

[thenorthremembers]

9 hours ago, boyst said:

Williams ceiling is milanos floor. 

Pretty sure we've seen Milano's floor the last two games and Williams is already playing better than that.  

19 hours ago, Generic_Bills_Fan said:

I can’t speak for everyone but I don’t think people were telling you it wouldn’t take him a few games to get back up to speed 

 

I think the likelihood he’s ‘washed’ is pretty low…not impossible though 

 

 

 

The argument was around the type of injury he was coming back from.  Because it was an arm a few of you, and I don't recall exactly who, said he would not suffer much setback when he returned because it wasnt another leg injury.

 

My point about him likely being washed stems from his previous injury.   He was still having issues with the leg in training camp.   Linebackers much like running backs tend to have big issues coming back from serious leg injuries late in their careers because they rely a ton on speed and reaction time.     I hope he gets back to form.   But, I think the injury history and his age will prevent that.  

[LABILLBACKER]

1 hour ago, harmonkillebrew said:

He might get back to form, but the question should be: do we have the luxury to wait?

We're losing seeding, which is important come playoffs. I don't think we should let an obviously currently inferior Milano play every snap over Dorian.

I agree...we could drop to the 3 seed if Pittsburgh keeps winning. I cautiously was hoping Matt wouldn't have this much rest but I think alot of his tentative movements are mental.  He's going thru the same crap Von & Tre had to deal with.  Who knows what he'll look like at the start of the playoffs?

[Bills!Win!]

Why does everyone think Milano is in his late 30’s? He just turned 30. Everyone mentions his age as if he’s ancient

[vincec]

3 hours ago, dma0034 said:

It seems odd to me that we all see Milano is struggling but the coaching staff does nothing

Doesn’t surprise me at all. Like when Von Miller was really struggling last season but they trotted him out there over and over anyway. They are playing the long game and hoping he finds his form for the playoffs.

[BananaB]

When we talk about young players they gotta earn their spot on the field, but vets coming back off injury don’t gotta prove they are ready to play. Tre wasn’t ready to play, Von wasn’t either and he eventually got sat. Milano ain’t ready and the worst part of this is Williams was playing fine.

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

I'm not sure williams would have played well.  His biggest issue is processing - and thats what killed our team in this one.  All 3 linebackers were slow in processing the jet motion, we were tricked in play action all game long.  I don't think plugging williams in helps in that regard.  

[frostbitmic]

When the entire Defense is as bad as they were Sunday, that goes to the Defensive game plan. It's hard to blame Milano for a bad day when everyone else is having a bad game too.

[Aesop]

Answer. Rusty. I cant give a proper opinion on a guy that hasnt played in over 14 months. Especially with one game in a snow storm. Ask me again in two weeks.

[klos63]

On 12/9/2024 at 3:45 PM, CSBill said:

I've been away, so I couldn't post this until now, but Milano has been bad. I think his presence has hurt the defense. He was below average last week, but the conditions masked it. But he made up for it by being awful yesterday. He couldn't cover, and they ran all over us. Williams may not have the natural football IQ or instincts, but his speed makes up for it. That speed could have been helpful yesterday when the Rams were having their way with our linebackers and secondary. Remember, he was leading the team in tackles and, I think, the NFL, before he was relegated to the bench.

We had difficulty stopping the run with Williams playing. 

And yes, he was leading the team in tackles,  but every team has a team leader in tackles.  Milano needs more time before they pull the plug. 

[dickleyjones]

if he has any hope of making an impact in the playoffs, he has to play now. 

[MiltonWaddams]

29 minutes ago, dickleyjones said:

if he has any hope of making an impact in the playoffs, he has to play now. 

But why do we care? We have a guy in Williams who was playing very well and a defense that was playing very well with him in the lineup. Now we have seen a guy who hasn’t played for 14 months come in and play subpar, which the defense has mirrored. I like Milano as much as the next guy, but you’ve gotta play the hot hand and he sure isn’t it.

[TD716]

Give Williams the bulk of the snaps his speed and intensity is infectious. Rewatched game in NFL network , Milano looks like he’s going 75%

[Brand J]

Funny thing is, if and when the team decides to go back to Williams, he likely won’t step in and play as free and fast as he did before the benching. Game reps matter and he’s been closer to a healthy scratch than a regular contributor.

[AKC]

1 hour ago, dickleyjones said:

if he has any hope of making an impact in the playoffs, he has to play now. 

That has to be the calculus, but in the Stadium Sunday he barely lifts the left arm at all until the ball is snapped. I don't remember if this is his 2nd or 3rd tear on the left pec but he does not appear ready to be on the field especially in a starting role. Any run to his left is highly likely to result in a missed tackle. In fact his left arm right now reminds me of Baldingers pinky. Useless for anything but making fun of. Williams has no football instincts. Tough choice for the staff- two poor options and coming up against a really tough RB duo.

[34-78-83]

Williams has improved the overreactions over the course of this season, showing that he’s developing. To me that’s a different thing than “ has no instincts”, which it looked like last season. Overall I hope MM shakes the rust but our floor is much much higher than last season there at the position.