Shaq Lawson Will See More Snaps vs. Jacksonville

Ever since returning from a shoulder injury and debuting vs. the Miami Dolphins, Shaq Lawson has impressed the coaching staff enough for a higher snap count.

The Buffalo Bills‘ victory vs. the Cincinnati Bengals last week was the team’s first since Shaq Lawson returned to the field.

Apparently, he has played well enough recently to earn some stripes with the coaching staff and even earn him some more playing time. The Buffalo Bills made the announcement on their official website, with Lawson receiving high praise from Rex Ryan.

Here’s what Ryan had to say:

"“I feel really good about him,” Rex Ryan said. “He’s going to get more playing time as we go. He made that tackle for loss last week and kind of hurt his thumb and it bothered him during the game or he would’ve played more. I’ve been pleased with him. We’ll look at point production per play and he may be number one on our team with the plays that he’s had. So that’s a real good sign.”"

Shaq Lawson debuted against the Miami Dolphins and has played in four straight games, showing signs of what’s to come as he gets situated in the NFL. Don’t forget, these are Lawson’s first four games of his career and it’s coming after missing the first six games of the season due to having shoulder surgery after being drafted.

In his first game vs. Miami, he tallied one tackle and saw 14 snaps when the Bills’ lost 25-28. Then, he totaled his highest snap count of the year vs. New England with 37 and tallied 3 tackles — including his first sack of his career.

Week 9 vs. Seattle, Lawson saw just 13 snaps, but tallied his second career sack and his 5th career tackle. Last week vs. Cincinnati, Lawson saw 21 snaps, tallied another tackle and got his first stuff of his career — for 4 yards.

With Shaq Lawson receiving more playing time this week vs. the Jacksonville Jaguars, both our pass rush and rush defense will see a boost. Not only due to Lawson’s ability, but he will allow Lorenzo Alexander to get some needed rest in-between plays. Plus, the Bills want him on the special teams unit all day vs. a good return team in the Jaguars.

Here’s what Rex Ryan had to say about that:

"“Taking some plays off of him is required,” said Ryan of Alexander. “We played him too much last week. He played 70 snaps on defense. We need to get Shaq more into it on defense whether he’s backing up Jerry Hughes or Lorenzo Alexander. That could also give ‘Zo another opportunity to help us more on special teams as well.”"

Now that we are 11 weeks into the season and coming up on the 12th, it’s important to keep your players as rested as possible and with the depth Buffalo has with their linebackers, Lawson getting more time will only benefit this team.

Good luck vs. Jacksonville and prove to #BillsMafia why selecting you in the first round this year was the right move. You’ve waited a long time for this opportunity and we’ve waited a long time to watch you dominate.

Time is now.

How many snaps do you think Lawson sees vs. Jacksonville, considering Lorenzo saw 71 last week compared to Shaq’s 21. Leave your comments below!