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Von Miller tore his ACL in late November, cutting his 2022 season short. But he doesn’t expect to miss the majority of the 2023 campaign recovering from the injury.
“If that’s Week 1, then I’ll be happy for that. If that’s Week 6, I’ll be happy for that,” he told reporters on Tuesday regarding his timeline for return. “But I guarantee you it won’t be any later than that. Whatever it takes for me to get to that point, that’s what I’ll do.”
Miller added that he wouldn’t rush his recovery, feeling as though the most important thing was to “be here for my team when they need me the most. I feel like late in the season when it really got tough, I wasn’t able to be there because I was injured. So the most important thing for me is to be available when my team really needs me.”
Miller, 34, also tore his ACL in 2013 and said he had a far more defined timeline for a return back then.
“I wanted to get back as fast as possible and play and show guys you don’t need to take nine months to recover from an ACL,” he told reporters of his thinking at the time.
A lot changes in a decade, including the body’s ability to heal. A return by Week 6 would still be impressive and have Miller on the field by Oct. 15 against the New York Giants, just short of an 11-month recovery.
Pat McAfee @PatMcAfeeShow
How we feeling Von..
“I’m in a great spot and taking it one day at a time” ~ @VonMiller #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/bR6WHR9EJu
One thing that hasn’t changed drastically is Miller’s ability to get after the quarterback. In just 11 games last year he still registered eight sacks, 12 quarterback hits, 10 tackles for loss, two passes defensed and a forced fumble.
He remains a playmaker off the edge, and Buffalo will need him in top form if it hopes to finally end its Super Bowl drought.
