Bills place Merriman on IR

In a press release issued by the team, General Manager Buddy Nix released the following statement:

“Shawne has worked extremely hard, but unfortunately, his Achilles flared back up and it doesn’t appear that he will be able to return to the field anytime soon,” said Nix. “So we felt it was in the best interest of our team and for Shawne to put him on IR.”

Merriman issued the following statement on his website:

"Due to the fact that I have recently been experiencing excessive aggravation in my Achilles tendon, which is a limitation that I have been dealing with for well over two years now, I sought the opinions of multiple medical specialists. After much consideration and unanimous professional recommendations stating that my Achilles is in danger of rupturing, I have been advised that it would be in my best interest to undergo surgery as soon as possible in order to prevent a major injury. I would like to thank all of my fans for their continued support on my road to a full recovery and am looking forward to getting back on the field."

MY TAKE: My first thought when the Bills ruled him out of the Giants game was, they're just going to err on the side of caution and rest him going into the bye week and he'll come back looking like he did during preseason. Shawne even said the injury was minor. Wishful thinking.

Before I get into what this means let me just say that there is no denying how good Merriman looked during his limited reps in the preseason. He was explosive. He looked like he had his burst back. He was killing quarterbacks and making his D line look good. There was a good reason to be genuinely excited about what he could do if he was healthy. You can't deny that. I'll also add that the guy we saw in preseason was not the same guy we saw in the regular season. At first, I thought it was his shoulder injury that he sustained during week one against the Chiefs that was holding him back. After watching him a bit closer, the shoulder didn't seem to be so much the problem but rather the Achilles. He didn't have any explosiveness. No burst. That said, I believe his Achilles flared up somewhere between the Bears preseason game and week 1 of the regular season. There's no other way of explaining how good he looked at one point and then like he did the past few games.

Despite the lack of productivity, I do believe Merriman provided some leadership. He was often seen leading the pregame huddle with the team. I also feel that Merriman was pretty good against the run and teams had to account for him. But many will be quick to point out the obvious - he wasn't making the difference fans had expected - only one sack and it was on a QB scramble.

Not sure what this means moving forward with Merriman and the Bills. He's under contract with the team for one more year. He's also already guaranteed money for next year which leads me to believe the Bills will bring him back for another year if he's healthy enough.

What I do know is that this means that Arthur Moats will finally be at OLB full time, where he should have been since day one. Moats has to step up because the Bills are very thin at the OLB position with the only healthy guys being Moats, Danny Batten and Chris Kelsay. The Bills claimed Antonio Coleman off the Giants practice squad. Coleman was cut by the Bills after the preseason. I thought Coleman had a really good preseason and deserved a spot on the roster but the Bills decided to go with Robert Eddins instead. Coleman should be familiar enough with the defense to step right in if needed.