What Bills LB Matt Milano’s injured reserve placement means for his 2024 status

The Buffalo Bills placed former All-Pro linebacker Matt Milano on injured reserve on Tuesday; here's what it means.

Shawn Dowd/Rochester Democrat and Chronicle / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Buffalo Bills placed former All-Pro linebacker Matt Milano on injured reserve as part of their Tuesday roster trim down to 53 players, but don’t fret—this is actually a positive.

We’ve placed three players on IR.

RB Darrynton Evans and LB Matt Milano have been designated to return. #BillsMafia

More info on our moves: https://t.co/thw3Lw8Qh3 pic.twitter.com/K13D6Y05Wp

— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) August 27, 2024

The Bills announced following their cutdown and they've designated the 30-year-old to return, meaning that they expect him to play at some point in the 2024 NFL campaign.

This is an incredibly encouraging development, as Buffalo announced that the dynamic defender would be out “indefinitely” when it announced his bicep tear in mid-August. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported at the time that the team hoped that he would return sometime late in the season, and his Tuesday designation indicates that the optimism remains.

Related: Bills release initial 53-man roster of 2024 NFL season

Milano, upon his return, should re-inject his trademark ‘nose for the football’ back into the Buffalo defense. He’s been one of the team’s most consistently impactful defenders since his ascension into the starting lineup midway through his 2017 rookie season, as he’s tallied 488 total tackles, 39 pass deflections, and 10 interceptions as a professional while earning both All-Pro and Pro Bowl nods. While his excellence is no question mark, his availability often is; he’s missed at least one game due to injury in all but one of his campaigns, most recently missing the majority of the 2023 season after suffering a tibia fracture in a Week 5 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars.

The Bills’ Tuesday designation would suggest that Milano will take the field at some point in the 2024 NFL season, which historically has only bode well for the Buffalo defense.

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