One Game Is No Reason To Panic Over Bryce Huff's Ineffectual Eagles Debut

The drumbeat over the Eagles signing the defensive end to a big contract in the offseason is getting louder after a mostly invisible Week 1.

Eagles defensive end Bryce Huff / Ed Kracz/Eagles on SI

It’s one game on a ridiculously slippery field, yet the drumbeat on social media has already begun.

Boom…What did the Eagles see in Bryce Huff to deposit $15.6 million into his bank account, with $34M-plus the minute he agreed to a three-year contract on March 14?

Boom…How in the world does veteran Brandon Graham and still-developing Nolan Smith get more snaps in Friday’s opener?

Boom…One tackle? One tackle?!

Boom…Why, oh, why couldn’t the Eagles find a way to make it work with Haason Reddick?

Bang…Bryce Huff is a bust.

Nick Sirianni did his best to quiet the beating drum three days after Huff’s debut in the Eagles’ 34-29 win over the Green Bay Packers.

“Just the way the snap counts went for that day,” said the Eagles coach. “You know, sometimes you're in a drive - there are different reasons for how the drive is going, and they were going on the ball at certain points so some of those plays can kind of build up.”

So, it was all in the name of keeping players fresh and really does it matter that Graham played just wo more snaps than Huff and Smith had only one more?

It’s all about context when it comes to that, or, the way Sirianni put it: “Sometimes that's very similar to how the touches on offense go as well.”

Huff is still learning to be a three-down player, and that is probably when you look at the snap counts a little more closely, you notice that Graham played 15 of his 32 on first down to Huff’s eight of 30 on first down.

It’s easy to expect more given the financial investment, and it’s big, but the salary cap on his contract is spread out well that the Eagles can afford to be patient, especially because he is just 26. Reddick will turn 30 on Sept. 22.

Huff’s cap-charge this season is $4.35M. Next year it is $7.51 before rising to $11.73 in the final year. Reddick’s charge would have been higher, and that is the Jets’ seemingly unsolvable problem right now.

Still, the Eagles are paying him to rush the passer and sack the quarterback. He didn’t have any pressures on Friday.

Maybe it was the slippery field that prevented him from at least showing he could be the player who rang up 10 sacks and 21 QB hits with the Jets last year.

It better start showing on Monday night, though, when the Eagles host the Falcons, or that drumbeat will only get louder.

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