By Matt Shalloe
This past Sunday, Bills fans saw A.J. Epenesa, the 2nd-round rookie out of Iowa, take a career-high in snap counts for the Bills defense (31). That was good enough for 37 percent of the team’s defensive snaps.
Even better news for Epenesa? The praise that he received from defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier following the win in his Monday press conference.
“He’s becoming a lot more comfortable in our system. There are a lot fewer mental errors… he’s come a long way from where he was early in the season.” Said Frazier on the development of the defensive end. He later added that the decision to healthy-scratch defensive end Trent Murphy came in large part because of the play and development of Epenesa.
Bills fans began to immediately worry when their top draft pick in the 2020 class (due to the team’s 1st round pick being traded to the Minnesota Vikings for WR Stefon Diggs) was a healthy scratch for the team’s season opener against the New York Jets.
The cancellation of preseason games in the NFL this season is the main reason for that, as it has been incredibly difficult for rookies to transition from the NCAA to the NFL on the fly this season. The recent emergence of the 2nd-round pick on the Bills defense should be a reason for excitement among the fans.
Fans can expect to see a lot more of the rookie down the stretch, as Frazier finished up his conversation on the rookie by saying “He made it convincingly, yes, he deserves more snaps.”, when asked if the rookie’s play in Sunday’s win over the Chargers was well enough to merit more playing time.
Epenesa and the Bills will be featured on Monday Night Football in Week 13 when they take on the San Francisco 49ers in Arizona, not Santa Clara, due to the county health orders.
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