Buffalo Rumblings
When will we see Matt Milano back on the field with the Bills’ defense?
Buffalo Bills fans were excited to see the combination of Matt Milano and Terrel Bernard starting at linebacker this season. Bernard had a breakout season last year as he took over at the middle linebacker position, and there was a lot of anticipation about seeing the pair reunited after Milano missed the final 12 games of the season with a leg injury he suffered in Week 5. But it wasn’t to be. At least not in September. Or October.
Milano tore his biceps this past August while working on a tackling-dummy drill during practice. A drill. Not a game. Not trying to save a touchdown. The Bills’ All-Pro linebacker tore his bicep tackling a pad.
Milano underwent surgery to repair the tear, and while Bills head coach Sean McDermott often acts like he is the HIPPA police himself — unwilling to disclose any more information than required by league rules —with a little poking around on the internet we can deduct a few things about the injury. Chief among interest regarding Milano is of course the time frame in which we can expect to see him back on the field (hint: it’s soon!).
First, there are two types of biceps tears — one that happens at the top of the muscle near the shoulder and one that happens near the elbow. It’s likely that Milano suffered the second. The biceps muscle attaches in two places at its uppermost point. Tears at that part of the muscle can be played through — as in the case of Arizona Cardinals linebacker Alex Okafor (2016), and Baltimore Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs (2011) who opted to wear a compression sleeve and play through the season. This is because the tear typically only involves one of the two heads that attach the muscle to the bone at the shoulder, leaving the muscle functioning in some capacity.
A tear at the bottom of the muscle means that the biceps is completely detached from the bone and balls up (similar to what we’ve all seen on Achilles’ tendon tears). With the muscle completely detached from the bone, surgery is required for proper healing.
While it’s possible that Milano tore his biceps at one of the top two connections, considering he has already missed a year of his professional career, it’s unlikely that he would have opted to sit out the majority of a second season for something he could wrap up and play through. It’s all but certain that Buffalo’s outside linebacker suffered a distal tear of his biceps muscle.
So, what does that mean for his return? After surgery, which Milano had on August 15, the typical time to return to sport-related activities is at six weeks. For Milano that would have been the end of September, and that correlates...
