The Tampa Bay Buccaneers may have left Cincinnati with a loss, but rookie linebacker Josiah Trotter made sure his NFL debut would be remembered.
According to Scott Smith of Buccaneers.com, Trotter became the first player in NFL history to record both a sack and an interception returned for a touchdown in his first career game.
That wasn't all the second-round rookie accomplished in Tampa Bay's 33-27 loss to the Bengals. Trotter finished with a team-high 10 combined tackles, one sack, two tackles for loss, an interception, and a touchdown, putting together one of the strongest individual performances on the Bucs' defense.
His first career sack came early in the third quarter. Trotter attacked the interior of Cincinnati's offensive line and brought
Joe Burrow down for a nine-yard loss on third down, forcing the Bengals to settle for a 55-yard field goal.
Trotter wasn't close to being finished.
On Cincinnati's next possession, the rookie lined up near the line of scrimmage and initially showed pressure before dropping back into coverage. Burrow tried to find Andrei Iosivas over the middle, but Trotter read the play, jumped the throwing lane, and took the interception 38 yards untouched for his first NFL touchdown.
The play cut Cincinnati's lead to 27-20 and gave Tampa Bay life after it had trailed by as many as 18 points earlier in the game.
Trotter's performance also put him in impressive company beyond the NFL record books. Over the last 10 seasons, Trotter and T.J. Watt are the only players to record a sack, an interception, and at least five tackles in their NFL debuts. His 10 tackles were also the most by a Buccaneers rookie in his debut since tackles became an officially tracked statistic in 1995.
There will be things for every rookie to clean up after his first NFL game, but Trotter showed exactly why Tampa Bay was willing to use a second-round pick on him. He played fast, attacked downhill, and made two of the biggest defensive plays of the afternoon.
It was only one game, but making NFL history in your debut is a pretty good way to introduce yourself.
This article originally appeared on Bucs Wire: Bucs rookie makes NFL history in jaw-dropping debut
