Von Miller still 'part of the team' and available to play vs Chiefs, Bills GM says

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. - While the NFL continues its investigation into the felony charge levied against Von Miller last week, the edge rusher was in the facility at One Bills Drive Wednesday as the Buffalo Bills began preparations for Sunday’s showdown with the Kansas City Chiefs.

“Von is here, he’ll be a part of the team, and we’ll let the investigation (continue) and we’ll follow the lead of the NFL from that standpoint,” general manager Brandon Beane said.

Beane was careful in his remarks during a 19-minute interaction with reporters, but when he was asked whether he thought Roger Goodell would put Miller on the commissioner’s exempt list, meaning he would be ineligible to play until the league’s investigation into the matter is complete, Beane said, “We don’t expect anything based on our conversations. Anytime it’s an ongoing investigation, if something was uncovered, the commissioner does have that (option) at any point. If he feels there was something that, hey, this doesn’t look good or something like that, they could, but with our knowledge of what we have today, we don’t expect that.”

Why was Von Miller arrested?

Dallas police issued an arrest warrant for Miller last week after he was accused of assaulting a pregnant woman. The charge filed is a third-degree felony. He turned himself into the police and was released on a $5,000 bond.

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Since the charges were filed, the woman told a Dallas TV station that, “We’re fine. Things were blown way out of context. This is actually outrageous! No one assaulted anyone. This is insane. And sad.”

Nothing has been reported about the incident since then and what actually happened that day remains up for debate, which is why Beane said that until more information is presented, Miller will remain with the team.

“I don’t think we have a lot of information other than our conversation with Von, his representatives and the league, other than, you know, the media reports and things like that,” Beane said. “So, we’ve not been able to have conversations with people who are on the scene investigating the call and things like that. It’s very early in the process, and those people in Dallas aren’t just going to get on the phone; they’re not worried about the Buffalo Bills. They’re going to do what they do on the timeline that they do it.

“You never want anyone in your organization, no matter what organization you’re in, to have an allegation like that. That’s a very serious nature and something that we would definitely … we’re gonna take every precaution with. Culture and character and all those things are super important. But we also have to remember we have to let the legal process play out. The guy that we’ve known here for a year and a half, that seems out of character.”

But is it? This is the third time that Miller has been involved in a police investigation.

Last year, Miller was sued by a woman who charged that he was sending out revenge porn after their relationship ended. The lawsuit was eventually dismissed, though it is unknown whether there was a settlement between two parties. And in 2021, Miller was investigated for an incident in Colorado, but the district attorney’s office declined to file criminal charges. The nature of the incident was not reported.

“You have to let it play out, I guess, is the best way to say it,” Beane said. “If you get into sitting guys or disciplining guys without the right information, that can be a little bit dangerous, too. We weren’t there, we’re not investigators. We had our conversations with Von and understood what he believes happened and so from that standpoint, we can’t get into it and he’ll participate like normal in practice.”

Should Von Miller play for Bills vs Chiefs despite his availability?

Regardless of his potential legal entanglement and based simply on his level of play, there is a legitimate argument to be made that Miller - who was conveniently given a veteran rest day Wednesday and did not practice - should not be playing right now.

As he has tried to regain his form following ACL surgery, he has been invisible on defense in all nine games he has played, and his snaps would arguably be better utilized by other players.

“I can tell you every week we’re trying to put the best 48 players (on the field),” Beane said. “It doesn’t matter what name it says on your jersey or number, we’re trying to put the best 48 out there to win. And yes, that will continue to be evaluated every week and if we feel that Von is not one of the best 48 that week or all the weeks, then that’s what we’ll do.

“But we’re hoping, it’s around a year now that he’s had that surgery and sometimes it just takes time. I think you saw that with Tre (White) last year as well. It’s hard in a situation where you have an injured player that misses all the offseason and all OTAs, training camp. You can’t really replicate a training camp so you’re trying to work them back, yet practices are not like training camp practices. And then you’re in the games and you’re trying to find that number of snaps.”

Beane likened Miller’s situation to that of a shooter in basketball who needs to keep shooting in order to find his form. “You got to get up enough shots to start feeling your rhythm,” he said. “And so all those things are into consideration. We got to win these five (games), so we’re gonna try to put out the best 48 we can.”

Coach Sean McDermott, who chose not to address Miller’s legal issue, instead deferring to what Beane said about it, was asked about the playing time situation with Miller and whether he should continue to get the snaps that he has.

“Well, I think like anything else, you’re trying to evaluate every week, every day at practice,” he said. “And we’ll do that today and as well as tomorrow. Some of what we’re doing is to continue to try and get him where he was a year ago. That process took place last week as a staff. We sat down and said, ‘Hey, what else can we do to continue to try and and move this thing?’”