Bills linebacker Jerry Hughes has been special and boneheaded at the same time
When the Indianapolis Colts drafted Jerry Hughes in the first round the thought for sure he would be special for them. Well that didn’t happen, so the team traded Hughes to the Buffalo Bills for Kelvin Sheppard.
http://youtu.be/L0D0qyL2uDA
That trade put the Buffalo Bills defense over the top. Hughes in two years with the Bills has 19.5 of his 24.5 career sacks in Buffalo. The guy has been amazing off the edge, but he has also made some critical boneheaded penalties.
Hughes has been flagged three times for unsportsmanlike penalties this season – most in the NFL. He also has a personal foul for roughing the passer, and leads the Bills with 12 total penalties.
After taking an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty in the second quarter against the Denver Broncos last week extending a drive that ultimately ended in a touchdown – Hughes found his playing time drastically reduced.
On Thursday, I think it finally clicked to the star pass rusher, that came after he was benched for the dumb penalty.
“You’ve got a Hall of Fame quarterback, on the road, you just don’t do things like that,” he said about playing against Peyton Manning. “That’s just not smart football, and we’re a very smart team. We pride ourselves on understanding the game and our coaches teach us the ins and outs, so I mean, that’s just a bonehead play by me. It just can’t happen.”
At the end of the day, Highes is going to get paid, and hopefully he can fix the errors, because at 26 he is just starting to turn up in the NFL.