ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — The Buffalo Bills announced defensive end Von Miller is out for the rest of the season after exploratory surgery on Tuesday revealed a tear in his ACL.
Bills head coach Sean McDermott made the announcement on Wednesday.
The ACL damage was discovered during exploratory surgery that was done in Texas on Tuesday. McDermott says the damage was repaired in subsequent surgery, and confirmed Miller will be done for the season.
"A very unfortunate situation for Von obviously and our team. We care for him like we would any player. We know how much this means to him in terms of playing and being with the team."
"We'll miss him, but as I said last week when he was out... It's a time and an opportunity for other guys to step up."
The Bills drafted defensive end AJ Epenesa in the second round of the 2020 draft, and defensive ends Greg Rousseau and Boogie Basham in the first and second rounds in 2021 as part of an ongoing effort to improve their pass rush.
Miller injured his knee during the Bills Thanksgiving Day win over the Lions in Detroit. It was initially diagnosed as a sprain. Miller then revealed on his podcast last week, that his ACL was stable, but that he had suffered damage to his lateral meniscus.
Miller's hope was to be back on the field for this coming Sunday's game against the Jets.
The Bills made the decision to put him on injured reserve ahead of last Thursday's game at New England, meaning at the time, that he would be out for a minimum of four games, with the hope that he could be back for the final two games of the regular season and the playoffs.
Miller leads the Bills with eight sacks this season.
The Bills signed the 33 year old Miller to a six-year, $120-million contract this offseason.