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:
