Of all the Buffalo Bills defenders who are being taught to play a new scheme, Greg Rousseau probably has the biggest learning curve.
The differences between Sean McDermott’s nickel-based four-man front and new defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard’s 3-4 odd-man front are minimal for the cornerbacks and safeties, and there are only subtle alignment differences for the interior linemen and the inside linebackers.
But the switch for Rousseau going from 4-3 edge rusher who lined up in a three-point stance, to a standup outside linebacker is a pretty big change for the 6-foot-6, 266-pounder.
Remember, the other key veteran outside linebackers on the roster — Bradley Chubb, Michael Hoecht and Mike Danna — have all played as standup OLBs in the NFL, but
for Rousseau, Javon Solomon and rookie second-round pick TJ Parker, this is something new.
“I think the No. 1 thing was to try to show him how much carries over from what he's done his whole life, the roles he's been asked to do,” Leonhard said Wednesday when asked about Rousseau. “How much carries over and then get him to understand the differences and how do we bridge that gap. He's done a good job of understanding what we're trying to do.”
Rousseau is a key player for the Bills this season because while he’s certainly played well in his first five seasons with the team, he hasn’t been an explosive, game-changing pass rusher and the Bills are hoping this position switch will get him to a higher plateau.
“We think it's going to allow him to get to his length a little bit better than it has in the past,” Leonhard said. “There are times when he's gotten jammed up just with limited space. Obviously, he is a unique athlete with his size, with his length, and we're really excited to get him a little bit more space.
“We're not trying to go crazy, but get him a little bit more space to allow him to have a little bit more vision, see what's going on and then be able to get to that length, whether it's the run or the pass game.”
Rousseau has played 4-3 end his entire life - high school, college at Miami, and then with the Bills. There was certainly a comfort level for him playing in the old defense, but he’s starting to see that the differences aren’t huge and he can see how the new scheme will benefit him.
“It's not like it's night and day,” he said. “Teams are still going to run the same plays against us. It's still kind of the same things, just lined up different a little bit. Might have a different stance, a different orientation, but at the end of the day you usually got about four guys going forward and about seven guys dropping, or maybe five guys going forward and six guys dropping.
“Football is football at the end of the day. No matter who you’re watching, the NFL or college football, usually the same vibe at the end of the day, same objectives.”
Here are some other observations from Day 2 of training camp:
Kaleb Elarms-Orr getting opportunities
The rookie fourth-round pick is a player the Bills have high hopes for. He may end up being a backup to Terrel Bernard and Dorian Williams most of his rookie year if they can both stay healthy and on the field. But down the road, with Williams eligible for free agency in 2027 and Bernard, depending on how he performs this year, a potential salary cap casualty, Elarms-Orr could become the linebacking leader of the defense.
With both Bernard and Williams nursing injuries and limiting their on-field throughout the spring and even during the first two days of training camp, Elarms-Orr has more reps with the first-team defense than he could have possibly expected.
“Fifty reps to practice or five reps, it don't matter; I’m gonna try and make every rep my best,” Elarms-Orr said. “I try to always stay in the present moment. Whatever comes my way, whatever happens, happens. I really don't put a lot of expectations or goals on anything. One play at a time, one day at a time, one thing at a time, and that's how I feel like I can just get better every day.”
From the moment he showed up for rookie mini-camp after the draft, Elarms-Orr has looked like he belongs in the middle of Buffalo’s defense. He had no standing with the team, yet when he was filling in for Bernard - who wears the green communication dot on his helmet - he gravitated to that leadership position because that’s who he was at TCU.
“He's taken advantage of a huge opportunity with ‘backers ahead of him not being on the field, and he's calm and collected,” Leonhard said. “He wants that role; he wants to be a lead communicator for a defense. That's what he's done in the past. He doesn't blink, it's very low emotion on the field as far as just retaining information, talking and communicating with me, with the position coaches, with other guys. So he's definitely taken advantage of the opportunity and more reps.”
One of the key reasons the Bills picked Elarms-Orr is that he could do a little bit of everything, and that’s what he loves about this defense as it allows him to do so many things within the scheme.
“I love the versatility that coach Leonard provides us as players, being able to do multiple things within the defense,” he said. “Cover tight ends, cover running backs, able to blitz, fit the run aggressively. I feel like he gives us the opportunity to do multiple things, and I really like that about this defense.”
Josh Allen, DJ Moore finding a connection
It hasn’t been a sharp two days for the Buffalo offense, though the rainy weather had a lot to do with the sloppiness. But one thing that has been fun to watch is DJ Moore catching passes from Josh Allen.
“I want to say they’re on the ups,” Moore said of his gaining familiarity with his new superstar quarterback, unquestionably the best quarterback he’s ever caught passes from. “The first two days have been really good so we’ve got to keep building on that and go from there. Constant communication on the field between the two days, and we’re just [going to] keep building.”
One of the most important things that needs to happen over the next six weeks before the regular season begins is Allen and Moore finding their rhythm, similar to how Allen and Stefon Diggs had to get on the same page back in 2020. Moore is the new primary boundary receiver, a player who was acquired to be a true difference maker which the Bills haven't had at receiver since Diggs left town.
Allen was asked about Moore Wednesday and he said, "Still learning him, just trying to get on the same page. I feel myself trying to be perfect when I’m throwing to him in some of the routes on air. And today I walked up to him and said 'I’m just going to throw it. I’m going to pick a spot and let it go.' I’m not trying to aim it anymore. And I feel like once I said that, things kind of clicked for us. And each day that goes by, we are going to get more comfortable with each other."
Cole Bishop back to getting full reps
The Bills third-year safety has struggled with offseason injuries in his first two seasons which limited his practice time, so it was good to see him on the field participating in full at the start of camp.
This is an interesting season for Bishop because he really emerged last season in the old defense and performed the way you would expect as a 2024 second-round pick. But now he’s in a new defense with different responsibilities and Leonhard is aware of this.
“I think for a guy like Cole, when you have that breakout year and the system changes, sometimes you panic a little bit early,” Leonhard said.
While you would think missing time in the OTAs and mini-camp would have been really detrimental because he wasn’t on the field as the defense was being installed, Leonhard spun that in a positive direction.
“Having him a little bit limited in the offseason I think was good,” Leonhard said. “We were able to have a lot more 1-on-1 conversations with him and teach the scheme and show him how he fits rather than just being thrown into the fire of trying to compete and execute every single day. That was the No. 1 thing, I tried to turn the situation that we had in the offseason into a really positive one."
Sal Maiorana has covered the Buffalo Bills for more than four decades including 37 years as the full-time beat writer/columnist for the D&C. He has written numerous books about the history of the team, and he is also co-host of the BLEAV in Bills podcast/YouTube show. He can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com, and you can follow him on X @salmaiorana and on Bluesky @salmaiorana.bsky.social.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Can the Bills unlock Greg Rousseau? 4 observations from training camp
