The Buffalo Bills' defense is losing the battle of attrition.
Edge rusher Von Miller's four-game suspension, which was announced Tuesday, is the latest blow to a group that already lost linebackers Matt Milano and Terrel Bernard to injury, along with cornerback Taron Johnson and, most recently, defensive tackle Austin Johnson.
PlayAction podcast: Von Miller is suspended and Stefon Diggs awaits the Bills
Von Miller has been suspended for four games by the NFL. Mark Gaughan and Katherine Fitzgerald discuss why the league acted now and what Miller's absence means for the Bills going forward.
"The job is to move forward, right?" coach Sean McDermott said Wednesday. "I've really been proud of the way the guys have stepped up. They've had to deal with quite a few situations, injuries, now in this case the suspension with Von. So, I expect the same, quite honestly. Somebody is going to step up. That's what's in that locker room. Somebody needs to step up and they have to this point."
Miller had enjoyed something of a return to prominence, having notched a sack in each of the Bills' first three games - all victories. He played just nine snaps in the Bills' 35-10 wipeout loss at Baltimore on Sunday, when the Ravens took an early lead and stuck mostly on the ground, rushing 34 times for 271 yards.
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It's unlikely the job of Miller will fall to any one player. Instead, a slight uptick in snaps for the top three defensive ends - Greg Rousseau, A.J. Epenesa and Dawuane Smoot - seems likely.
"There's no replacement for - or total replacement - for a player like that. It'll be the sum of the parts, really, and that's important overall regardless of a situation like this, but we've got to really buy into that team-first philosophy up front on defense and help each other out," McDermott said. "So feed each other, because that's really how it works. When one player gets penetration, he may not get the sack - but he pushes the quarterback, in this case, to another player and they get the sack. So that'll be important for us, for sure, in this situation."
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The two players most likely to see the biggest increase in playing time are edge rushers Casey Toohill and Javon Solomon. Toohill, 28, has appeared in all four games and made six tackles, one sack and one fumble recovery this season. He has played 79 defensive snaps - 29.8% of the defensive total.
"Nothing changes. Von's an incredible player and a great mentor to me, so I think we're all very sad that he's not here. That's it," Toohill said. "Football is so tough. You never know when you're going to lose someone, so you've just always got to be ready and always prepare like you're going to have an increased role. ... My preparation doesn't change. I think that's probably true for everyone in the room. We're just going to build on what we did last game, because that wasn't good enough, and just get better."
Solomon, 23, is a rookie who was drafted in the fifth round in April out of Troy. He missed the first two games because of a calf injury but debuted in Week 3 against Jacksonville. He had a sack for a forced fumble in the second half of that blowout win. Against the Ravens in Week 4, however, Solomon played just three snaps on defense. It's a good bet that number will go up with Miller out of the lineup for the next month.
Mark Gaughan: Like it or not, Bills will need Von Miller down the stretch
On the surface, Miller's suspension by the NFL on Tuesday is fully justified. From a football perspective, the Bills' pass rush does not look championship caliber without Miller, Mark Gaughan writes.
"He's a talented player," Epenesa said of Solomon. "He has so much capability, so much drive and so much speed and burst, too. He's just a twitchy guy. There are a lot of things he does well, so we're excited to see him get to work. There is a new role open and guys are just going to have to step up."
For the Bills, that's been the norm. A steady stream of injuries - or, in this case, a suspension - has meant relying on backups. Through the first three games, the defense held up well. Sunday's loss to the Ravens, though, exposed some serious cracks in the foundation, and the absence of Miller, only makes life more difficult for first-year coordinator Bobby Babich.
"It's tough to have someone like that out for four games," Epenesa said of Miller, "but we've been doing this for years. Next-man-up mentality. Our defense has been struck with injuries the past couple seasons. We have guys step up into those roles and make big plays and really stand out in those roles. Same thing in this situation, whether that's myself, Smoot, Javon, Greg. We have all the guys to do it in our room."
Some relief could be on the way. Johnson (forearm) and linebacker Bernard (pectoral) practiced on a limited basis Wednesday, opening up the possibility of one or both of them to return in time for the Bills' game against the Texans at 1 p.m. Sunday in Houston. If not, the Bills will have to again rely on the players behind them on the depth chart.
"There is really no choice," Toohill said. "That's how football is. You're going to have guys go down and other guys will have opportunities. You've just got to step up."
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