Buffalo Bills: Rookie Recap after Week 16 win over Patriots

This is a recap of how the rookies did for the Buffalo Bills in Week 16 against the New England Patriots.

While there haven’t been many stars from this rookie class for the Buffalo Bills this season, the team continues to get solid production from this group. The game against the New England Patriots was no different.

This is a recap of how each rookie did on Monday night in the Bills’ 38-9 win over the Patriots.

A.J. Epenesa

The second round pick has seen his playing time increase since the bye week and this past week against the Patriots was the same story. He played about the same number of snaps he has in past weeks with 27 but with the way the defense was playing that amounted to 54% of the defensive snaps, which was a season-high.

He finished the game with two total tackles but came close to a sack in the second half. While he didn’t get the sack and was ultimately flagged for unnecessary roughness, it shows that he is getting more pressure and is close to registering his first sack since Week 3 of the season.

Zack Moss

For the third straight week, Zack Moss finished the game with double-digit carries and finished with 12 carries for 57 yards and one rushing touchdown. The third round pick continues to be the more efficient running back and the way the coaching staff leans on him in the later parts of games shows how much trust they have in him.

The rookie running back should be a big part of this offense come playoff time when the Bills have leads late and need to burn some clock.

Gabriel Davis

While John Brown was activated from injured reserve, he was immediately placed on the Reserve/COVID-19 list as he was considered to be a close contact to T.J. Yeldon. This gave Gabriel Davis one more start with Brown’s absence.

He finished the game with three receptions for 33 yards on five targets. However, this game could have been a lot better as a late timeout from Bill Belichick appeared to save a touchdown. The timeout was so late that the ball was snapped and Josh Allen threw a deep pass to Davis who beat the corner in one-on-one coverage.

The return of John Brown is likely to significantly cut into Gabriel Davis’ snaps but he should still have a chance to get onto the field come playoff time.

Tyler Bass

The Buffalo Bills starting place kicker was perfect for the second straight week as he made his only field goal attempt and all five of his extra point attempts. Since Week 8, Tyler Bass has missed only one field goal attempt which was 61-yards in Week 9 against the Seattle Seahawks, and only one extra point attempt in 32 attempts during that stretch.