Bills HC Sean McDermott breaks down next hurdle in Matt Milano's recovery

Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott feels as though the next step in Matt Milano's injury recovery is more mental than physical.

Kyle Silagyi | Aug 8, 2024

Bills linebacker Matt Milano dives at a blocker during drills. / Shawn Dowd/Rochester Democrat and Chronicle / USA TODAY NETWORK

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Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott has consistently praised linebacker Matt Milano’s injury rehabilitation throughout the 2024 offseason, seemingly genuinely pleased with the progress he’s seen from the veteran as he recovers from a tibia fracture that prematurely ended his 2023 campaign. He stated at the team’s May OTAs that the former All-Pro would potentially be ready for training camp and seemed pleasantly surprised when he was available for minicamp on a limited basis; Milano has been a near-constant participant throughout the team’s training camp thus far, this despite McDermott warning that he would have his workload monitored.

Though some lingering effects of Milano’s significant leg injury have (expectedly) been visible throughout camp, he’s largely looked like the dynamic, sideline-to-sideline defender whom the Buffalo faithful have come to adore over the past seven seasons. He’s improved as camp has progressed, with fellow linebacker Terrel Bernard stating earlier this week that the team has seen “Matt be Matt.”

McDermott spoke again about Milano’s recovery ahead of Thursday’s training camp practice, telling reporters that his physical rehabilitation appears to have culminated—it’s now up to the former Pro Bowler to believe in himself and his health in order to again reach his potential.

“With respect to Matt, it reminds me of, you’re around injuries where it takes a year to really get themselves back, [and] I’m not saying it’s going to take him a year, but I do think it’s him getting re-acclimated to moving at full speed, playing at full speed, and then trusting that he’s back,” McDermott said. “There’s just more than a physical competent that goes into it, and he’s working through that, and I think every day he’s gotten a little bit better. I think yesterday, he had James Cook in the flat, and that’s a tough, James is a tough matchup in space, and Matt did a good job there.”

Bills defensive coordinator Bobby Babich has a light moment with Taron Johnson and Matt Milano between drills. / Shawn Dowd/Rochester Democrat and Chronicle / USA TODAY NETWORK

This isn’t Milano’s first rodeo with regard to recovering from an injury; he’s missed at least one game due to an ailment in all but one of his professional campaigns, even suffering a season-ending fibula fracture in 2018. His inability to consistently stay on the field has been one of the few deficiencies that has loomed over his, to this point, productive NFL career; he’s arguably been Buffalo’s most consistently impactful defender since ascending to a starting role midway through his rookie season, tallying 488 total tackles, 39 pass deflections, and 10 interceptions throughout his seven-year career.

Milano, who just recently turned 30 years of age, still has several years of productive play left in the tank assuming he fulfills his head coach’s request and realizes that “he’s back;” if history is any indication, he’ll do so sooner rather than later. He’ll have his first opportunity to do so in Buffalo’s preseason opener against the Chicago Bears this Saturday, as the starters will see a quarter’s worth of action.

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