Kiko Alonso Injury: Buffalo Bills Linebacker Tears ACL, Expected To Miss Entire Season

Kiko Alonso has reportedly torn his ACL, a significant injury expected to keep the Buffalo Bills star linebacker out for the entire season.

Alonso suffered the injury doing offseason training in Oregon.

Late on Tuesday, Buffalo Bills general manager Doug Whaley released a statement:

“We have learned tonight that Kiko Alonso injured his knee while working out in Oregon. We do not have the details at this point, but early indications are that it may be significant.”

But details of the injury soon spread. ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter reported that the Kiko Alonso had torn an ACL.

Bills LB Kiko Alonso tore his ACL and is expected to miss season, per source. It’s considered a seven- to nine-month recovery. Blow for BUF.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) July 2, 2014

The blow could be huge for the Buffalo Bills. Kiko Alonso was the anchor of an improving defense, playing every single snap the entire season and taking second place in the Defensive Rookie of the Year voting.

The Bills had gone all out this offseason in an attempt to end a 14-season playoff dry spell. The team traded its 2015 first round pick to the Cleveland Browns to land wide receiver Sammy Watkins, which many critics believed was leveraging too much of the future on a team that still had holes on defense and an unproven quarterback in EJ Manuel.

It has been a difficult offseason for Bills fans. The team endured a cancer return for Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly, the death of owner Ralph Wilson, arrests for Pro Bowl defensive tackle Marcel Dareus, and the uncertainty of whether a new owner would even keep the team in Buffalo.

The Kiko Alonso injury would also likely force the Bills to look for linebacker help.