All the naysayers have Von Miller fired up.
Coming off the worst season of his career, a zero-sack disaster following an ACL injury, the Bills’ star pass rusher lashed out at those who believe he’s finished.
“My biggest individual goal is just getting back to playing my style of football,” Miller told SI.com. “It’s crazy how you get injured, and you come back, and you really shouldn’t have even been playing, and people judge you by a product on the field. I could have easily sat out all of last season, but I couldn’t do my teammates like that. I felt like being later in my career, I didn’t want to sacrifice any of my years.
“But at the same time, I shouldn’t have been out there. I feel like people are judging me on that, so it’s making me a little bit angry, to be honest.”
Miller, 35, is an all-time sack artist but came nowhere close in 2023 to resembling the player who will land in Canton when his career is over.
He underwent season-ending surgery for an ACL injury during the 2022 season, the first of the six-year, $120 million pact he signed with Buffalo.
Miller attempted to return from the injury at the start of the season but began the year on the PUP list, but was invisible on the field.
In 12 nondescript games, he tallied — and we promise, we’re not making this up — three combined tackles, two solo tackles and three quarterback hits.
For comparison, he had eight sacks and 12 quarterback hits in 11 games in the 2022 campaign.
“I feel like people are judging me on that, so it’s making me a little bit angry, to be honest. It’s making me tap into a Von that I haven’t been in a while,” Miller told SI.com. “I just want to get back to playing my style of football. Get back to talking s–t, f–king making sacks, dancing and making plays for my teammates. That’s been my whole mindset this offseason.”
The Bills are a team seemingly in transition, having shed several veterans including Stefon Diggs, Leonard Floyd, Micah Hyde, Jordan Poyer and Tre’Davious White after another heartbreaking playoff exit against the Chiefs.
Miller, a two-time Super Bowl champion with the Broncos and Rams, is high on the Bills’ chances.
“The biggest team goal is bringing the first Super Bowl to Buffalo. Everyone feels like they deserve it, and they work hard, but Buffalo Bills fans and Western New York they deserve it, man,” Miller told the outlet. “They do so much for our community and our football team. Josh Allen is an amazing player and person – he is one of the most amazing people that I have ever been around in my life. These guys deserve it, and I’m going to do everything in my power to give it to them.”
