Buffalo DE Greg Rousseau tied a Bills franchise record for sacks (3.0) Sunday en route to a 34-28 season home opener win.
The Bills 2021 first-round NFL Draft pick logged three sacks on Cardinals QB Kyler Murray, including a fumble.
After he notched his first sack in the first quarter, the Cardinals were racking up offensive yards and points on the Bills’ defensive unit to the tune of 191 yards and 14 first-down conversions during the first two-quarters of the game, scoring every possession except for a kneel-down to end the first half.
But Rousseau continued the dominant play he’s exhibited as of late.
“Yeah big time day, big time day. I love that he carried over to the game what he had shown in training camp and then the last couple weeks in practice,” HC Sean McDermott said postgame about Rousseau. “
That’s big, like when you can take how you do things from practice and do it in the game that’s a mindset right and so that’s that’s also growth and maturation in and of itself.”
The Bills head coach was not the only one to speak highly of Rousseau after the game, as OLB Von Miller took the postgame press conference podium with the young edge rusher.
“It’s a great feeling to see him grow and see him develop into one of the premier pass rushers in this league. There’s only about 5 of them and he’s one of them,” he added
A frequent headline topic this offseason has been the fifth-year option which locks Rousseau in on his rookie deal for two more years through the end of the 2025 NFL season.
Whether a precursor to an extension or a prove-it period, Rousseau is quickly making his case for the former option.
If his elevated level of play continues, the price tag to re-sign him to a new deal could go up as well, which would suggest an extension would be better sooner. Time will tell how things unfold in terms of a new deal, but for now, Rousseau is steadily earning it week to week.
And that effort was big in a comeback win on Sunday.