Buffalo Bills ‘Came All The Way to London To Play On Cement?' Matt Milano Injury Highlights Disastrous Loss

Buffalo Bills ‘Came All The Way to London To Play On Cement?' Matt Milano Injury Highlights Disastrous Loss

It's one thing to lose a close game to a potential contender in the AFC. 

It's another to lose and suffer multiple season-altering injuries along the way. That's the situation the Buffalo Bills find themselves in after losing 25-20 to the Jacksonville Jaguars at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London on Sunday. 

The heart and soul of Buffalo's defense, linebacker Matt Milano, seemingly suffered a season-ending leg injury. NFL Insider Ian Rapaport reported that he suffered a fractured leg and a knee injury. Milano suffered the injury in the first quarter when a teammate landed and rolled up on his right leg.

#Bills star LB Matt Milano suffered a fractured leg and is feared to have suffered a season-ending knee injury in today’s loss, sources tell me and @MikeGarafolo. They are checking on the ACL. MRI coming, but missing the rest of the season is likely. One of the NFL’s best LBs. pic.twitter.com/dZsJM5fSMI

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) October 8, 2023

The Buffalo linebacker had to be helped off the field and was carted to the locker room with an air cast on his right leg. The injury was at the crux of a Bills player's frustration after the game and may mark another chapter in the ongoing debate between playing on turf or grass.

"We came all the way over to London to play on (bleeping) cement," a Bills player said, per Ryan O'Halloran of Buffalo News. 

Matt Milano Is likely out for the season with multiple injuries to his right leg / © JAMIE GERMANO, Democrat and Chronicle

Milano had budded into one of the best linebackers in football and was a First-Team All-Pro and Pro Bowler in 2022. Through Buffalo's first four games this season, he had 27 tackles and two interceptions. 

The injuries didn't stop at Milano. Defensive tackle DaQuan Jones also suffered a pectoral injury in the first quarter. His outlook wasn't any better when Bills head coach Sean McDermott spoke about it after the game. 

"Jones has a pec injury, and that doesn't look good either," McDermott said after the game. 

Jones, who is in his 10th season in the NFL, had 2.5 sacks, three tackles for a loss and five quarterback hits heading into Sunday. 

The losses of Jones and Milano were felt throughout the game. Jacksonville ran up and down the field against the Buffalo defense. Jaguars running back Travis Etienne carried the bulk of the load, as he had 26 carries for 136 yards and two touchdowns. As a team, Jacksonville ran for 196 yards. 

For as good things looked after Buffalo blew out the Miami Dolphins on Oct. 1, things appear equally as bad after its loss to Jacksonville. Injuries are more than capable of ruining a season, and if Buffalo falls short once again, this may be a day that can be looked back on as a turning point for a team that looked like the class of the AFC just a week earlier.