Two young cornerstones of Buffalo's defense were placed on injured reserve Tuesday. Linebacker Matt Milano and cornerback Taron Johnson were both designated for I-R.
Johnson underwent shoulder surgery a week ago and was not expected to return this season after appearing in 12 games and establishing himself as the teams nickel cornerback.
Milano suffered a broken fibula and last week's game against the Jets and had surgery on Monday effectively ending in season.
In the eyes of defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier, Milano was having an exceptional season.
"Matt's been playing extremely well this season," Frazier said Monday. "Having a Pro Bowl caliber season, so you hate to see him injured and being out for the rest of the season. Would've really liked to see how he finished the year. He was putting up some really good numbers."
Milano leads the team in takeaways and was among the league leaders with six in 13 games played.
With Milano and Johnson moving to injured reserve Buffalo has two open roster spots, which they may need to utilize to fortify the running back position with LeSean McCoy and Chris Ivory both nursing injuries this week.
