Buffalo Bills pass-rusher Von Miller avoided an ACL tear after suffering a knee injury during the team's Thanksgiving win over the Detroit Lions and hopes to return in the near future.

"The news is not the best of news, but it's definitely not the worst of news," he said on the Voncast:

Miller explained that he will miss the Week 13 matchup with the New England Patriots on Thursday but plans on playing through the injury and ideally being on the field for the Week 14 matchup against the New York Jets.

The Texas A&M product managed to walk off the field under his own power but was eventually carted to the locker room in the win over the Lions. His presence was missed as Detroit moved down the field with relative ease in the fourth quarter.

The home team took the lead with a touchdown pass to D.J. Clark and then responded to Buffalo's touchdown with a game-tying field goal drive that ended with 23 seconds remaining.

It is a credit to Josh Allen and the Bills offense that they moved into field-goal range in the final moments, and Tyler Bass connected on a 45-yarder to win it.

Miller signed a six-year, $120 million deal with Buffalo during the offseason after helping lead the Los Angeles Rams to a Super Bowl title last season, and he has anchored the team's pass rush as it looks to take the next step and win a Lombardi Trophy of its own.

The 33-year-old has eight sacks and one forced fumble in 11 games this season and could reach double-digit sack totals for the eighth time in his career if he does return in a timely fashion from this setback.

Miller may be a future Hall of Famer with a résumé that includes two Super Bowl titles, the Super Bowl 50 MVP, a Defensive Rookie of the Year, eight Pro Bowl selections and three All-Pro nods.

He is a veteran leader for a Bills team that lost to the Kansas City Chiefs in each of the last two playoffs. He is also someone who has shined on the sport's biggest stage and figures to be a key voice in the locker room ahead of those potential playoff showdowns.

That is what makes his eventual return so important for a Bills team that is in Super-Bowl-or-bust mode this season given the amount of talent on the roster.