Bills cornerback Antoine Winfield will undergo surgery on his chronically loose shoulder Wednesday, which will take him out of play for the rest of this year's season.
"That's unfortunate for him and us," Bills coach Wade Phillips said this week. "He was having a tremendous year…but his shoulder kept popping out."
Winfield suffered an injury three weeks ago against the New England Patriots. While team officials thought they could control the shoulder's instability with a brace, his shoulder kept sliding out of socket.
In 11 games this season, Winfield has 49 tackles and one interception. He will be replaced at left cornerback by Chris Watson.
Since Winfield's shoulder woe is instability, doctors will perform a stabilization procedure on the player. The surgery, which aims to tighten the ligaments that connect the arm to the shoulder joint, will involve either tucking and stitching the ligaments or shrinking them with a thermal shrinkage device. The procedure may be done by open or arthroscopic means.
