UConn in the NFL: Week 2

Wait… are we a football school now?

The Huskies hung 56 points on URI this weekend as quarterback David Pindell continues to be one of the most electrifying players in college football. Don’t worry about the final score, defense is overrated.

In the meantime, we can focus on the NFL where former UConn players continue to make their mark on the league. Houston Texans tight end Ryan Griffin caught everything thrown his way while Dallas Cowboys cornerback Byron Jones shut down one of the best receivers in the NFL.

Alright so the Ryan Griffin stat is a bit misleading. Griffin did record a perfect day but he was only targeted once, hauling in a 19-yard reception in the Texans’ 17-20 loss to the Tennessee Titans. It was still an improvement over his week one performance, where he was targeted five times and failed to record a single catch.

On the bright side, things continue to go well for Byron Jones who moved from safety to cornerback during the off-season. On Sunday Night Football against the New York Giants, Jones was targeted five times but allowed just one catch for zero yards despite spending time going against superstar Odell Beckham Jr.

With the Cowboys heading to Seattle to face a struggling Seahawks offense, expect Byron Jones to be a big factor once again. Through two weeks, he is ranked second on the team in tackles with 11. Jones is yet to record a turnover, but Russell Wilson has been interception-happy of late and the opportunity could be there on Sunday.

Speaking of UConn cornerbacks, Blidi Wreh-Wilson made his 2018 regular season debut after an injury left him sidelined for week one. He managed to get into the stat sheet with a swatted ball, but it was a pretty slow day for the six-season veteran. The Atlanta Falcons defeated the Carolina Panthers 31-24 to balance their record at 1-1.

Shamar Stephens recorded 1 tackle with the Seahawks, Geremy Davis finally entered a game with the LA Chargers but was never targeted by Phillip Rivers, and Anthony Sherman continued his whole unsung-hero thing where he helped the Kansas City Chiefs to a 42-37 victory but didn’t appear on the stat sheet. Such is the life of a sausage with hands.

Foley Fatukasi has not yet entered a game for the New York Jets and Tim Boyle is still sitting as the third-string quarterback for the Green Bay Packers.

Aaron Rodgers looks fully healthy despite the beaten-to-death hyperbole that he’s “playing on one leg,” so we can pretty much write Boyle off at this point. But Foley still stands a chance to get some playing time if he can learn the Jets system and work his way up the depth chart. It’s only the week two. There’s still a lot of football to be played.