ORCHARD PARK - Last week, new Buffalo Bills defensive tackle Linval Joseph participated in his first football practice since the Friday before Super Bowl 57 when he was a member of the Philadelphia Eagles.

After that workout at One Bills Drive, which was three days before the Bills would be playing the Cincinnati Bengals, Joseph was asked if it would be possible for him to be ready in time to dress and play in that game.

“I’m ready to go,” he said with confidence. “I can do whatever they need me to do.”

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As it turned out, what the Bills needed from the 35-year-old was 30 snaps, five more than Tim Settle who was the least used defensive tackle in the Bills’ rotation during Buffalo’s 24-18 loss. Joseph was in on two tackles including one where he stuffed quarterback Joe Burrow for no gain on a QB sneak on a second-and-1 play in the second quarter.

“That was pretty awesome, pretty elite,” A.J. Epenesa said of Joseph’s performance. “I found out he was a 14-year vet when he got here and just was able to bounce some questions off him, see him work and it's understandable why he's been doing it for so long because he's just a pro when it comes to every aspect.”

One of the reasons why Joseph was signed off his couch was to give the Bills more bulk in the middle of their line against the run, something that has been sorely missing since DaQuan Jones got hurt against the Jaguars. One game in, it looks like Joseph is the right man for the job as the Bengals finished the game with just 54 yards rushing and a paltry 2.5 average per attempt.

That was lowest per carry average of the season for the Bills who entering that game ranked 31st in the NFL with a 5.1 average yield.

“I think to come in off the street, and not having been playing up to that point in time, he came in and did a nice job,” coach Sean McDermott said Thursday. “First of all, conditioning wise, secondly, just point of attack defense and things like that, he did a nice job.”

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Assistant head coach/defensive line coach Eric Washington gushed about Joseph on Monday, saying that his preparation in the few days that he had to get up to speed with the Bills’ defense was, “Just absolutely, absolutely amazing. The professionalism, the way he came into this situation and how he came in, he was so proactive, he spent a lot of time on his own.”

Washington also praised assistant defensive line coach Marcus West who he said, “did a heck of a job of getting him acclimated to our game plan, not trying to learn the entire defense but really focus on the things that we were going to utilize in the game on Sunday. And he just showed why he’s a first-call professional, a first option for a lot of teams.”

Joseph is a 330-pounder whose specialty has always been his play against the run. He’s not here to sack the quarterback as his 25.5 sacks (just 1.5 since 2020) in 180 games across 14-plus seasons would attest. Like Jones, he is the quintessential one-technique defensive tackle who can clog running lanes up the middle and take on double-team blocks that help free others to fill gaps and make plays.

“I’m glad that he’s here,” said Washington, who has not gotten sufficient play from Settle, Jordan Phillips and Poona Ford trying to replace Jones. “He controlled the middle of the defense on some of the gap schemes in downfield runs that Cincinnati really featured. So he gave us a nice rotation. His execution was flawless and that’s a tremendous credit to him.”

Joseph said what helped him get ready so quickly for the Bengals is that Buffalo’s defense is similar to what he played when he was with the Vikings for six seasons.

“This defense is the defense I played in Minnesota, attacking 4-3,” he said. “It’s nice to feel that again, so being out here getting a chance to do the things I used to do, it feels really, really good.”

The fact that Joseph played as much as he did in Cincinnati was a bit of a surprise, but the reality is that the Bills need him for at least that much per game moving forward, especially if he can replicate the results he produced.

“Might have been,” McDermott said when asked if 30 snaps was more than he would have anticipated. “But coach Washington was monitoring him as he went and a year ago he did something similar, not maybe to that high of a rep count, but he came off the proverbial street and went in and played right away in the first week and played more reps than you think a guy would, especially at that position.”

Indeed, Joseph did the same thing last year for the Eagles. He had been released by the Chargers after the 2021 season and did not sign with Philadelphia until Nov. 16. Four days later Joseph started against the Colts, played 26 snaps and was in on four tackles plus half a sack.

He wound up starting all 11 games he played for the Eagles including all three in the postseason, and he finished with 21 tackles and three QB pressures.

Joseph and the Eagles came up just short in the Super Bowl, depriving him of his second championship ring - he was on the 2011 Giants team that defeated the Patriots in Super Bowl 46, his second year in the NFL.

Despite his short time in Buffalo, Joseph loves what he sees and he believes the Bills have what it takes to get to Las Vegas in February.

“This team is special,” he said. “The locker room is special, the guys are special. I know I’m new here but I feel like I’ve been here this whole season. You hear it, you see it for yourself - ‘Oh, this is for real, this is why they are where they are.’ Let’s go baby.”

Sal Maiorana can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @salmaiorana and on Threads @salmaiorana1. To subscribe to Sal's newsletter, Bills Blast, which comes out twice a week during the season, please follow this link: https://profile.democratandchronicle.com/newsletters/bills-blast

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Linval Joseph gets off the couch, into the fire in Buffalo Bills debut