Bills’ Sweeney out for season due to myocarditis

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Buffalo Bills tight end Tommy Sweeney will miss the remainder of the season after a cardiologist discovered he has myocarditis, a heart condition.

Sweeney began the year on the PUP list with a foot injury, but coach Sean McDermott said the second-year tight end was nearing a return when a cardiologist discovered the condition during an NFL-mandated checkup.

The Bills placed Sweeney on the reserve/COVID-19 list in Week 7 because he was a close contact to teammate Dawson Knox, who tested positive for the virus before the team traveled to play the New York Jets.

Sweeney is the first NFL player known to have been diagnosed with myocarditis this season. Boston Red Sox pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez was diagnosed with the condition earlier in the year after contracting COVID-19.

McDermott said Sweeney appeared to be “in good spirits” when he saw him recently, and that the Bills feel good about the 2019 seventh-round draft pick out of Boston College.