Bengals punter Kevin Huber has a cracked vertebra, to go with broken jaw

Dec 15, 2013; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Cincinnati Bengals punter Kevin Huber (10) leaves the field after being injured against the Pittsburgh Steelers during the first quarter at Heinz Field. Mandatory Credit: Jason Bridge-USA TODAY Sports

Cincinnati Bengals punter Kevin Huber was making a run to try to tackle Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown who was returning a punt. While looking at Brown and not where he was running, Steelers linebacker Terence Garvin leveled Huber.

We knew Huber suffered a broken jaw on the play, but now it seems like the injury is much worse than that. According to Chris Mortensen, he also suffered a cracked vertebra. That resulted in the Bengals putting him on injured reserve ending his season.

Bengals punter Kevin Huber not only suffered broken jaw but also a cracked vertebrae in his neck on block by Steelers’ Gavin. Headed to IR.

— Chris Mortensen (@mortreport) December 16, 2013

In the hit you can clearly see that Garvin gets the neck area right under Huber’s facemask with the top of his helmet. You’d expect the league to fine Garvin for the play.

According to article 12.2.7(a)(6), as pointed out by Deadspin, “a kicker/punter during the kick or during the return” qualifies as being in a “defenseless posture.”

That covers Huber.

In case you missed it, here is the hit:

GIF via GIF.Mocksession.com (@bubbaprog)

Topics: Cincinnati Bengals

Mike Dyce

Mike has been a life long sports fan who has turned his passion into a career. He studied journalism at the University of Oklahoma and wrote mainly about Dallas sports teams before joining FanSided, including briefly for WFAA. Formerly the editor of NFL Spin Zone, Mike is now Editor of FanSided.com. He can be reached at dyce1809[at]gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @mikedyce

Chris Harrison

If that isn’t helmet to helmet, I don’t know what is. If it wasn’t against the Bengals, or had happened to a qb, that would have been an IMMEDIATE flag. I used to believe in the integrity of the game, but I’m learning more and more that sports are going the way of “reality” tv…gotta have our storylines right? I hope Huber recovers quick. He’s a stand up guy.