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In a normal year, a Nigel Bradham one-game suspension wouldn't register on our NFL news radar because the Bills had all-everything linebacker Kiko Alonso. But with Alonso sidelined for the year with an ACL injury, Bradham becomes an important cog in the team's linebacker plans.
Except that now he won't be available for Buffalo's season opener against the Bears; the league announced Monday that he will be suspended for the game for violating the NFL's substance-abuse policy.
A season ago, Bradham was the Bills' second-best linebacker after Alonso, according to ProFootballFocus.com. Now, some combination of Keith Rivers, Preston Brown, Ty Powell and Stevenson Sylvester could be on the field when Buffalo faces Chicago on Sept. 7.