Buffalo Bills’ Von Miller not going to rush back

Edge rusher Von Miller met with members of the media after the Buffalo Bills concluded their first practice of 2023 training camp, and he provided some insight into his recovery from an ACL injury that forced him to miss the end of last season along with the playoffs.

While Miller had hoped to avoid the team’s PUP list, the Bills designated him as physically unable to perform on Tuesday. However, Miller’s designation allows him to be activated at any time he’s ready.

“Whenever I get there, we’ll be ready to go,” Miller said in response to when that time might come.

The 34-year-old edge rusher said that he feels like he’s making progress but there are things he’s still not comfortable doing — which is likely why the Bills placed him on the PUP list. While he’s not ruling out a Week 1 start, and Miller has claimed that’s been the goal since the start of the offseason, he added a disclaimer to his statement this time.

“No later than Week 6,” he said, saying that he isn’t going to rush back because it’s important to him to be available for the “home stretch” of the season.

Miller injured his knee as the Bills beat the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving Day last season, but originally thought he would just miss a week or two. After heading to Texas for some exploratory surgery due to his knee not healing up and continued swelling, Miller was informed that there was, in fact, a tear to his ACL (which had been ruled out initially).

While this is the same situation the Bills faced with cornerback Tre’Davious White a year ago (a torn ACL on Thanksgiving Day of 2021 kept the All-Pro off the field for a full calendar year), Miller has experience recovering from this injury. Miller suffered an ACL tear in January 2013 and was back on the field by the beginning of the following season.

So, once again, Bills Mafia will start a “watch” as they await the return of one of the team’s All-Pro players to get back in action. This time, they’ll be waiting for it to be “Miller Time.”