Von Miller faces a third-degree felony charge of assaulting a pregnant person following an incident in Dallas last week. With Buffalo coming off their bye week, Bills general manager Brandon Beane told reporters that the linebacker is back with the team and is expected to play on Sunday.
“Right now, we don’t expect anything based on our conversations,” Beane said of a potential punishment (via The Athletic’s Joe Buscaglia). “Anytime it’s an ongoing investigation if something was uncovered, the commissioner does have that at any point if he feels there was something that, ‘Hey, this doesn’t look good,’ or something like that. If at any point that, they could. But, with our knowledge of what we have today, we don’t expect that.”
An arrest warrant was issued for Miller last week after his pregnant girlfriend accused him of shoving and choking her. Miller turned himself in to police and was subsequently released on $5K bond and his girlfriend later described the charges as a “huge misunderstanding.” Beane told reporters that the organization is letting the legal situation play out and will follow the league’s lead concerning punishment. Even if the charges are dropped, Miller could still face punishment under the NFL’s personal conduct policy.
Further, Miller is expected to avoid placement on the Commissioner Exempt list, which would have sidelined him indefinitely. As Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports pointed out – and Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio passed along) – the NFL wouldn’t put Miller on paid leave unless he was formally charged with a crime.
After sitting out Wednesday’s practice for a standard veteran off day, Miller was back on the practice field Thursday. Per ESPN’s Alaina Getzenberg, the player declined comment when he was approached by reporters at his locker.
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