One of the more puzzling trends to emerge from Sunday’s 22-0 defeat by the Buffalo Bills at the hands of the Green Bay Packers concerns the playing time of starting weakside linebacker Matt Milano.
Milano, who was all over the field during Week 3’s shocking 27-6 upset win over the Minnesota Vikings, continues to endure a timeshare with veteran Ramon Humber, despite Milano out-performing Humber.
One week after earning AFC Defensive Player of the Week honors—awarded for Milano’s strong performance that included a sack, a fumble recovery, and an interception in Minnesota—expectations were that he would take over more snaps at the weak-side linebacker. Indeed, while Milano’s snap count rose from 71 percent to 72 percent vs. Green Bay, Humber is still seeing his share of snaps in defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier’s 4-3 defense.
Milano hasn’t been diagnosed with an injury, meaning the decision over playing time comes down to head coach Sean McDermott and Frazier.
When asked by the media during Monday’s press conference why Humber was getting snaps over Milano on certain defensive series, Frazier expressed his desire to continue getting both players time on the field.
“We just wanted to be able to rotate [Ramon Humber] at times. Matt still gets the majority of the snaps, and sometimes Ramon will come in and get an opportunity,” Frazier said. “But [Humber] is a good football player. We want to be able to get him on the field at times. Obviously, Matt has made some plays for us, and we’ll continue to expect him to. But we also at times want to be able to get Ramon out there and take a look at him, as well.”
Through four games, Milano ranks second on the team in total tackles (24), while Humber has only seven total tackles. Milano also has two fumble recoveries, two pass breakups, and the aforementioned sack on the year.
Thanks to his all-around effort in Week 3, Milano became the first member of the Bills to earn AFC Defensive Player of the Week honors since cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman in Week 5 of the 2016 season.