Bengals punter Kevin Huber’s jaw fractured on devastating hit [Video]
Cincinnati Bengals punter Kevin Huber had a painful night, figuratively and literally, against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday -- and he played less than a quarter of football.
First, he bungled the snap during a punt attempt on the Bengals’ first possession, giving the Steelers the ball on the Cincinnati 1 and leading to a touchdown run by Pittsburgh’s Le’Veon Bell two plays later.
Later in the first quarter, with his team already down 14-0, Huber had a punt returned 67 yards for a touchdown by the Steelers’ Antonio Brown.
But the most painful part of the night for Huber had to have been on the same play, when he was moving in for a shot at tackling Brown and didn’t see the Steelers’ Terence Garvin flying in his direction.
Huber was flattened by Garvin on what was apparently a clean hit, and was motionless on the ground for several minutes. He eventually was able to walk to the locker room on his own -- but did so with his mouth bleeding badly.
The fifth-year punter suffered a broken jaw on the play and didn’t return to the game, which the Bengals lost, 30-20.
[Updated at 12:24: According to multiple media reports, Huber also suffered a cracked vertabra on the hit, which didn’t draw a penalty but is being reviewed by the NFL. Huber will be placed on injured reserve.]
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