PHILADELPHIA -- Bryce Huff is fully aware why the Philadelphia Eagles paid him $17 million a year. He's still figuring out how to do it.
Through two games, Huff remains scoreless on the stat sheet. No sacks, no quarterback hits.
Huff finally was able to get a pressure in Monday's loss to the Atlanta Falcons (two in fact), but the Eagles aren't paying him to be below average at getting to the quarterback. Having a pressure rate of 6.7% through two games, Huff and Jordan Davis are the only defensive linemen on the Eagles who have played over 50 snaps that have a pressure rate lower than 10% through two games.
Keep in mind Davis isn't paid to rush the passer. Huff is.
"I need to find myself in the scheme at the end of the day," a dejected Huff said following Monday's loss. "They brought me here to impact the QB. So at the end of the day, I need to talk to my coach, talk to my guys, and see what we can do to get better as a whole and as an individual."
Huff looked like a player searching for answers rather than someone who knows what the problem is. The main target of an inefficient pass rush through two games, Huff was brought in to essentially be a younger, cheaper version of Haason Reddick -- a player designed to be a game changer and disrupt the quarterback.
Instead, Huff isn't even seeing the field as a full-time player. Huff is playing just 48.44% of the snaps, just two percentage points ahead of 36-year-old Brandon Graham (46.88%) and Nolan Smith (42.19%). Huff has played 62 snaps to Graham's 60 and Smith's 54.
The Eagles aren't paying Huff to be a part-time player, yet that's what he is.
"I just need to get my ducks in a row as far as what my process is on the edge," Huff said. "I have to set up my rush with power and work with my guys on the other side to get more pressure, whether it's a stunt or some type of play we can run to mix it up.
"I just need to do a better job in general of being locked in and being able to, I guess, offset what they were trying to do with the chips and do a better job."
The lack of production is frustrating Huff. There's only one way to go after a disastrous start -- up.
"I can only control what I can control," Huff said. "I'm going to do everything I can in practice and film room to get home, so regardless of what pressure (to succeed) there might be, I'm going to attack my process as well as I can and try to be better."
