Bills react to AJ Epenesa’s first game vs. Dolphins
AJ Epenesa, the Bills’ first selection at the 2020 NFL Draft, taken the second round, was a healthy scratch on opening day against the Jets. The day after that, Buffalo defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier said that “his time will come.”
Evidently, his time was the ensuing weekend. Epenesa made his NFL debut in Week 2 against the Dolphins. The rookie is still waiting to get on the score sheet, but he did see action on 17 snaps during the game. Despite that, he still has responsibilities on the field like setting the edge and pressuring the quarterback. In those efforts, Epenesa graded out a slightly below average mark in Pro Football Focus’ grading system, 58.9. But he’s a rookie, so there’s a learning curve to be expected and all things considered, the Bills coaching staff liked what they saw.
“Really pleased with some of the things he was able to do. I think as the game went on, he got a little bit more comfortable. We had seen a lot of flashes in practice… so we were excited to get him in a game situation,” Frazer said on Monday via video conference. “He’s beginning to grow so we were pleased with his work.”
During training camp, Epenesa discussed the difficulties adjusting to the NFL, especially since the Bills are tasking him with learning all four spots along the defensive line. Taking on such a tall order before ever even playing in the NFL, even a preseason contest, helps one understand why the Bills are slowly working him.
“I’m trying to be comfortable being uncomfortable. I’m sure you guys have heard that 100 times around here. That’s really what’s happening though is I’m being put in situations where I haven’t really been put in before, and trying to learn and improve from those to make me a more versatile player across the line,” Epenesa said in August.
On an interesting note, despite Epenesa playing, the Bills did still keep second-year pro Darryl Johnson active on the team’s game day roster in Week 2. Epenesa saw slightly more snaps on defense, however, Epenesa is not playing time on special teams at this point as a backup just yet. Johnson is, so both may still have a role with the Bills during games moving forward.
