For the second time in his career, Stephen Hauschka won conference Special Teams Player of the Week honors.
Buffalo Bills Insider Chris Brown provides the details. Here is his report:
Here’s the Bills news of note for Sept. 28.
He had a heck of a day in Buffalo’s 26-16 victory over Denver. Stephen Hauschka accounted for more than half of the Bills scoring counting his point after kicks. But it was his four field goals, including a pair from 50-yards plus that earned him the AFC Special Teams Player of the Week nod from the NFL in Week 3.
“It felt great,” said Hauschka of his swing last Sunday. “The ball was flying well. It was above 80 degrees. It’s like this a lot in Buffalo right? The ball was flying well and feeling good mentally, physically and it was just nice for things to come together.”
Hauschka, who had 53 and 55-yard field goals in the win, also had seven of the team’s last 13 points as the Bills outscored the Broncos 13-3 in the second half to close out the game.
“To have the leg that Stephen has and the experience that he has in big moments and big games, that was part of the draw in our evaluation of him in the free agency period,” head coach Sean McDermott told Buffalobills.com. “We trust him and the plaeyrs trust him. He’s such a confident guy that we felt good going to him.”
For Hauschka it’s the second Special Teams Player of the Week award in his career. He first won it in Week 4 of the 2013 season.
The last Bills players to win AFC Special Teams Player of the Week honors was ironically, the man Hauschka replaced. Dan Carpenter won it last season in Week 11.
Tre’Davious White named NFL Defensive Rookie of the Month
Bills top draft choice Tre’Davious White has had a strong start to his NFL career. It earned him NFL Defensive Rookie of the Month honors for September.
He was projected as a starting cornerback from the time he was drafted. But the start that Tre’Davious White has gotten off to has exceeded some of the most optimistic expectations. His performance in his first three games has earned White, NFL Defensive Rookie of the Month honors for September.
“I know that I belong in this league,” said White. “If I continue to take that approach and continue to practice hard like I do and continue to be a team player and accept the coaching, I’ll be fine.”
Rookie cornerbacks are frequently targets of opposing quarterbacks, but NFL signal callers are quickly learning that it’s going to be difficult to make plays against Tre’Davious White.
White leads the Bills in pass breakups with seven and has done a solid job of limiting yards after catch when completions are made against him.
His performance in last week’s win is a perfect example. White was targeted by Denver QB Trevor Siemian 10 times in the game, and though he surrendered five catches, they went for just 85 yards with only nine yards coming after the catch according to Pro Football Focus.
In fact White had a pair of tackles for loss in the game along with a pass breakup and his first career interception. Siemian finished the game with a passer rating of 36.9 when throwing at White according to PFF.
“He didn’t back down, he competed like crazy,” said head coach Sean McDermott of White’s most recent performance. “Tre’Davious, like the rest of the team I thought came out in the second half and really finished strong and really with a winning mindset. For a young corner, this early to do what he’s done, is good to see. Still a lot of work to do, but I know he’s working extremely hard and I’m happy for him.”
The last time a rookie was named NFL Defensive Rookie of the Month was in 2015 when Ronald Darby won it for the month of November.