Bearcats In The NFL: 2014 Regular Season Week 1
By Chris Bains
The 2014 NFL football season kicked off this past weekend with several former Cincinnati Bearcats players seeing action.
Brent Celek: The Philadelphia Eagles look to be replacing their veteran tight end with their second round pick from last year’s NFL Draft Zach Ertz. That transition might happen sooner rather than later with Celek catching just 3 passes for 15 yards while his successor catching 3 of his 5 targets for 77 yards and a touchdown on Sunday. Unfortunately we might be looking at the twilight of this former Bearcats’ professional career.
Trent Cole: After halftime the Eagles’ offense and defense went to work on the Jaguars. Cole was a major part of Philly’s 34-point second half comeback. The veteran edge rusher sacked Chad Henne and stripped him of the football in the fourth quarter, which his teammate Fletcher Cox ran in for a touchdown. This to go along with his 4 total tackles and his pair of tackles for loss.
Connor Barwin: The fellow former Bearcat on the Eagles had a pair of tackles, batted down a pass, and recorded a hit on Jacksonville quarterback Chad Henne while playing the hybrid defensive end/linebacker position.
Kevin Huber: A fairly low scoring game yielded a good amount of opportunities for the Bengals punter, who more than took advantage. Huber averaged 37.8 yards per punt but dropped 3 inside the 20-yard line.
Travis Kelce: After a stellar preseason, the Chiefs tight end saw the field quite a bit on Sunday. Given Kansas City’s lack of options in the passing game, Kelce fit right in, catching 3 of his 5 targets for 49 yards. Unfortunately, fellow tight end Anthony Fasano snagged the Chiefs’ lone touchdown.
Kenbrell Thompkins: Despite a healthy Rob Gronkowski in the lineup, the former UC wide receiver got quite a few looks in the Patriots’ loss to the Miami Dolphins. Thompkins was targeted the second most in the passing game, hauling in 5 of them for 37 yards.
Derek Wolfe: Notched a pair of tackle on Sunday in Denver’s road win over the Indianapolis Colts.