One of the hardest goodbyes this past offseason was when the Buffalo Bills chose not to re-sign defensive end Jerry Hughes, who had played for the franchise since 2013. While Buffalo had to release numerous veteran players to remain under the salary cap, the 34-year-old was the team’s longest-tenured player and a fan favorite.
Hughes didn’t remain jobless for long and quickly signed a two-year deal with the Houston Texans with a base salary of $10 million. While Hughes has been a rare bright light on the Texans’ defense, he’s recorded eight sacks and 17 solo tackles heading into Week 12, the franchise as a whole has been struggling hard.
The Texans entered Sunday’s matchup against the Miami Dolphins with a 1-8-1 record. With 2:57 left in the second quarter, the Texans were down 10-0, and Hughes, clearly unhappy with how the defense was performing, absolutely lost his composure on the sidelines.
Already a rough day for Jerry Hughes. Been a looong season for the #Texans
The videos of Hughes kicking over the big orange Gatorade cooler quickly went viral on Twitter. However, it wasn’t just the Texans’ defense that was struggling against the Dolphins. Houston’s offense couldn’t get anything going either. At halftime, the Dolphins were up 30-0.
Twitter Strongly Reacted to Hughes’ Viral Reaction
Jerry Hughes: 1
Gatorade: 0
NFL fans felt for Hughes and expressed their sympathy on Twitter after seeing a video of his reaction go viral on Twitter. One fan tweeted, “Jerry Hughes showed more fire there on the sidelines that Lovie Smith has all year,” while another person wrote, “Hughes is furious on the #Texans sideline after that last Dolphins drive. As he should be.”
CBS Sports analyst Chris Trapasso joked this might’ve been an attempt to get back to Buffalo. Trapasso tweeted, “Hughes trying to get waived so he can land back with the Bills,” while a fan wrote, “Hughes is booking a flight to Buffalo as we speak.”
One man tweeted, “Hughes isn’t used to losing to the Dolphins so it’s understandable😂.”
Over the past few weeks, the Bills have bought a few familiar faces including linebacker A.J. Klein and most recently, wide receiver John Brown. After the Bills announced that “Smoke” was returning to the Bills, The Draft Network‘s Joe Marino tweeted, “Do Jerry Hughes next lol.”
During his final two seasons in Buffalo, Hughes only recorded 6.5 sacks, but recorded 51 pressures and was easily one of the most reliable players on the Bills’ roster. Since 2013, he’s never missed a game. There was just one game for which he was a healthy scratch — the team’s regular-season finale — but that was only after the Bills had clinched the postseason.
Hughes Sent Buffalo an Emotional Goodbye After Signing With Houston
The former first-round pick of the Indianapolis Colts from the 2010 NFL Draft penned an emotional goodbye to the team he called home for nine years immediately after it was announced he would heading to the Texans.
Hughes wrote on Instagram, “To the Pegula’s, my teammates, coaches & staff and of course BillsMafia. I am so thankful for the people I’ve met and friendships that were formed. It’s been an amazing 9years, my family and I enjoyed it all. Forever grateful & unbelievably blessed.”
After the news of Hughes’ departure from Buffalo was official, Bills quarterback Josh Allen’s girlfriend Brittany Williams, who grew particularly close with Hughes’ wife, Meghan Hughes, shared two moving goodbye messages on Instagram.
Williams first commented on Hughes’ post. She wrote, “😭😭😭😭😭😭 We love the Hughes & Buffalo will never be the same. Congrats on your new adventures! But you can’t get rid of us, football family for life ❤️❤️❤️ @iam_mrshughes.”
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Former Bills Fan Favorite Absolutely Loses it on Texans Sideline [VIDEO]