Bills DE Greg Rousseau is the first player to accomplish this feat in 2024 NFL season

Buffalo Bills defensive end Greg Rousseau was stellar in his team's Week 7 win over the Tennessee Titans.
Mark Konezny-Imagn Images

Buffalo Bills defensive end Greg Rousseau didn’t just vacation in the Tennessee Titans’ backfield throughout his team’s encouraging Week 7 win—he took up a near-permanent residence.

The fourth-year pass rusher was constantly in quarterback Mason Rudolph’s face, consistently disrupting the pocket as he tallied a team-high 11 quarterback pressures and half a sack. His pressures didn’t always convert to takedowns, as Tennessee’s game plan was designed to give Rudolph options to quickly dispose the ball to in the flats; that said, Rousseau still made his presence felt, recording an astounding six quarterback hits in the contest.

That’s the highest single-game total posted by any NFL defender thus far this season, per Bills PR. Dallas Cowboys defender Micah Parsons, Detroit Lions pass-rusher Aidan Hutchinson, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive end Logan Hall had previously led the league in the category with five quarterback hits in one game.

Rousseau’s six-quarterback-hit outing in Week 7 doubled his previous single-game high in the statistic, as the highest number of quarterback hits he had ever recorded in a single game prior to Sunday was three (doing so in Buffalo’s Week 5 loss to the Houston Texans this season). It’s hopefully the spark that the 24-year-old needs to get him back on track this year, as his play has been largely pedestrian after recording three sacks in the Bills’ Week 1 win over the Arizona Cardinals; his half-sack against the Titans was his first quarterback takedown since the season opener.

Related: How Keon Coleman assisted on Amari Cooper’s first touchdown with Bills

Though not in a contract year, Rousseau is potentially in line for an extension, as only his fifth-year option remains after the conclusion of the 2024 campaign. The Bills are eager to see the immensely talented defender, who has recorded 20.5 sacks throughout his career as he’s been stout against the run, take the next step in his development and become a consistently impactful disruptor; outings like his one against Tennessee are certainly what they want to see. 

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