With a growing number of defensive ailments, the Bills face a difficult road.

Tre'Davious White, a key member of the Buffalo Bills' defense, was lost last week during the team's victory over the Miami Dolphins. After losing linebacker Matt Milano to what look to be several lower body injuries and defensive tackle DaQuan Jones to a torn pectoral muscle on Saturday, the defensive injuries continued on Sunday.

Not to mention the three defensive players, including starting defensive end Greg Rousseau (foot) and starting cornerback Christian Benford (shoulder), who were sidelined for Sunday's 25-20 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars in London.

"About halfway through the first or second quarter, you could have noticed that some of the usual outfield players had kind of disappeared. Jordan Poyer, a safety, stated after the game, "Milano, Jones." "For the guys that stepped in, I thought they played extremely well, stepping in for Matt," said linebacker Tyrel Dodson.

The Bills defense has been among the best in the league, stopping the Dolphins' top offense to only 20 points last week. The question now is what will happen the rest of the season. The Bills' (3-2) depth will now be put to the test.

Stefon Diggs, a wide receiver, said, "It's tough to see guys get hurt, but on the flip side, I try to think about it, we do have depth, we do have a lot of guys who can play football at a very high level." Consequently, "it's still a standard" when you "go into that deep, the depth that we have, the deep edge that we do have."

So, at each level of the defense, who needs to step up?

Protective line

Against the Jaguars, the Bills nearly ran out of defensive ends. Coach Sean McDermott was left with just Leonard Floyd, AJ Epenesa, Von Miller, Kingsley Jonathan, and Shaq Lawson when Rousseau and Lawson were ruled out due to injuries. Von Miller played a restricted number of snaps in his comeback from right ACL surgery. Kendal Vickers, a defensive tackle from the practice squad, was called up for the game and ended up playing 43 snaps, or more than half of the defense's total playing time.

Epenesa, who had a breakout game, was the highlight. He finished with two sacks, one of which was a strip sack, a fumble recovery, and three batted passes, all of which were career highs.

In his first season as a head coach, McDermott took over the defensive playcalling this year. "[Epenesa] showed up," he added. "We were running low on players there, and by the end, the D-line only had so many players." But A.J. caught my attention—I thought he did well and put forth a lot of effort.

Epenesa is playing more assuredly because he is in a contract year. He also recorded a team-high five pressures and four quarterback hits during the contest. Overall, the pass rush against Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence was successful, putting pressure on him on 22 dropbacks, which is the second-highest total in his career. Additionally, Lawrence was sacked five times, which is a career best. The Bills entered the game tied for the league lead with 21 sacks this season.

The season should see an increase in Miller's playing time, which will improve the Bills' capabilities.

In contrast to what McDermott had hoped for, "Von was on a pitch count today, so we didn't have him through the [entire] second half." But it was wonderful to see him back in action.

Losing Jones for an extended period of time would be devastating. He has two and a half sacks and works well with Ed Oliver. Jones has the highest pass rush win rate (26.9%) among all Bills defensive lineman with relevant snaps.

Veterans Tim Settle, Jordan Phillips, and most likely Vickers will be required to perform greater duties without him.

Linebacker

Milano, a 2022 Pro Bowler, cannot be completely replaced by any linebacker on the Bills roster.

Dodson, a fourth-year linebacker, and Dorian Williams, a rookie, will compete for the position. On Sunday, Dodson played 64.6% of the defensive snaps while Williams played 35.4%.

"Next man up," Dodson commanded. "Lano is the defense's motivator and captain, but that's football; stuff happens, it stinks. I had to peek in because I cared about him. And linebacker room, we made an effort to play for him despite the fact that he moves about so much and makes so [many] plays.

After having to take Milano's place, Dodson produced several noteworthy performances. He finished with 5 tackles, 1 quarterback hit, 1 tackle for loss, 1 pass defensed, and 1 forced fumble. Williams made four of his own tackles and deflected a pass.

Even though Milano fills out the stat sheet, statistics don't accurately capture his influence. The younger guys will need to collaborate with second-year middle linebacker Terrel Bernard and the veterans around them to cover the vacuum as much as possible if Milano is out for an extended period of time. The Bills might also try to bolster their depth there.

The quarterback Josh Allen said, "He's one of our big pieces on that defense and he flies around and he makes a lot of plays for us. Hopefully he will soon return to the field.

Cornerback

Benford is the Bills' best cornerback now that White is out. However, due to a right shoulder injury sustained against the Dolphins, he was unable to play on Sunday.

Without him, the choice was between second-year cornerback Kaiir Elam and fourth-year cornerback Dane Jackson. Elam, the team's 2022 first-round pick, missed the first four games of the season due to injury.

Elam stated, "I simply want to win and do my part to help this team win. "I mean, I would still be thrilled if we won even if I didn't make any plays. However, my ultimate goal is to have an impact, and I'm having trouble doing that.

Elam, who was the closest defense, allowed a quarterback rating of 100.7 and six receptions on nine targets for 93 yards. According to NFL Next Gen Stats, Jackson allowed a passer rating of 104.2 on three receptions on six targets, including a touchdown catch.

"You're playing, and you're expected to play and perform well," McDermott added. "Guys have done that over the years, regardless of whether you played, were active, or weren't the week before."

Elam was replaced by practice squad defensive back Ja'Marcus Ingram by the Bills late in the contest, but Ingram only saw eight defensive snaps. McDermott claimed that putting another player on the field was a situational choice.

The Bills will rely on their young guys to fill in for White even after Benford returns. Future success of this defense will depend on each of them continuing to grow.

In the end, Hyde remarked, "[Elam's] duty is to go out there and perform. And it's our responsibility to line those players up and instill in them the confidence to perform well on the field. So, while it's evident that [Elam] could have made some better plays, I believe he stepped in and handled the situation. Yes, I also could have. So, it's a game from which we can all learn and improve the following week.