Bills First-Round OLB Shaq Lawson To Undergo Shoulder Surgery, Likely Miss 5-6 Months

The Buffalo Bills announced Monday that first-round OLB Shaq Lawson will undergo shoulder surgery.

• According to Ian Rapoport, Lawson is now a candidate to placed on the physically unable to perform list at the start of training camp. However, this procedure should correct the issue in the long run.
• Adam Schefter reports that Lawson was making swim move on tackling dummy in non-contact drill when he aggravated shoulder injury.  He’s expected to miss 5-6 months following this procedure.

Here’s a statement from the team:

“The Buffalo Bills are taking measures to prevent the possibility of Shaq Lawson aggravating a pre-existing shoulder condition during the season. While he could continue to play, the Bills medical staff has determined that surgery is the best course of action for the overall health of his shoulder moving forward. He had an occurrence of the condition last week, but that would not preclude him from participating in the offseason program. Shaq is scheduled for surgery tomorrow on his shoulder with a rehabilitation program to follow. A timetable for his return is still being established.”

“I want to take this opportunity to commend Shaq Lawson and his representatives for putting the team first by having this surgery on his shoulder done now,” GM Doug Whaley said. “By doing so, he’s forsaking personal goals to be 100 percent healthy when we will need him most during the regular season. Fans constantly hear us say that we want players with tremendous character who keep team goals ahead of personal ones and Shaq is a great example of this.”

Adam Schefter reportedly after the draft that Lawson would require shoulder surgery “at some point” that will prevent him from performing for 4-6 months.

However, Whaley said Lawson was cleared by the team’s medical staff to play, adding: “There’s nothing we’re worried about,” per Tyler Dunne.

Lawson mentioned he has played with this shoulder issue since his freshman year at Clemson and it has never given him any complications, via Dunne.

Lawson, 21, was taken with the No. 19 overall pick by the Bills. Head coach Rex Ryan has been a big supporter of Clemson, but the Bills were cleared focused on improving their defense in this year’s draft, and Lawson should give them a quality pass-rusher to develop in the coming years.

During his three-year college career at Clemson, Lawson recorded 123 tackles, 45.5 tackles for a loss, 20 sacks, a forced fumble and a pass defense.