Bengals Punter Reportedly Done For The Season, With Broken Jaw, Cracked Vertebrae
The Bengals punter who got viciously hit on Sunday, against the Pittsburgh Steelers, is reportedly out for the season with a broken jaw and cracked vertebrae.
Now the Bengals are left in the dark, without one of the most effective punters in the NFL, during the last crucial games of the season.
Whoever they choose, he will go against against the two top-ranked punt returns teams, the Vikings (No. 2) and the Ravens (No. 1).
The Bengals punter stayed overnight at a Pittsburgh hospital getting additional tests done to his jaw, where it was discovered that he also might suffer from a small crack to his vertebrae.
It was reported that the Bengals punter will undergo surgery soon. This is a huge loss for the Cincinnati team.
Now, the NFL is reviewing the play involving the 6’3″, 221-pound rookie linebacker Terence Garvin, who blocked on Antonio Brown’s 67-yard punt return touchdown. Huber is 6’1″ and 208-pounds.
The talk on Monday is that Garvin will be fined, as many experts believe the play should have been flagged and the overly aggressive hit was unnecessary.
Moreover, as all punters and kickers are considered defenseless players, the helmet to helmet hit on the Bengals punter is illegal.
The injury to the Bengals punter forces the team to start looking for a replacement immediately.
The website Cincyjungle.com reports:
“(…) the Cincinnati Bengals are planning to host five punters on Tuesday. One of the names that we know about is Shawn Powell, a second-year player that spent two seasons and 18 games with the Buffalo Bills who currently averages 44.7 yards/punt in 100 career kicks.”
Twitter is abuzz with outrage over Garvin’s season ending hit and fans are demanding that the NFL at the very least, fines the linebacker.
After watching the Brown TD return multiple times, @T_Garvin28 had clear intention of what he was doing and who he was hitting. Cowardly…
— Andy Garland (@DozerChronicles) December 16, 2013
Terence Garvin blowing up the punter is like beating up your girlfriend man c'mon
— Samuel (@SenamonRoll) December 16, 2013
Pittsburghs special teams player Terence Garvin should be suspended the same length of time that Kevin Huber is on the IR for that dirty hit
— Kevin (@THEKevinMaloney) December 16, 2013
If you missed it, #Bengals punter Kevin Huber suffers broken jaw on hard block by #Steelers' Terence Garvin: http://t.co/BT6ZDZ0223
— Matt Gajtka (@MattGajtka) December 16, 2013
The NFL’s Rule Book states:
“It is a foul if a player initiates unnecessary contact against a player who is in a defenseless posture… (including) a kicker/punter during the kick or during the return.”
Kevin Huber seems to be in good spirits from his latest tweets as he awaits what’s next in his recovery.
@LanceMcAlister @holygrailbanks I'm home and doing well. Dominating a giant mint chocolate chip milkshake from greaters!
— Kevin Huber (@khuber10) December 17, 2013
The Bengals punter is certainly garnering a lot of support on social media. Do you think Garvin should be fined by the NFL?
