Best of former Louisville football stars in the NFL week 3

Jaire Alexander

Opponent: Denver Broncos

Stats: 7 total tackles (5 solo), 2 pass deflections 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery 

If there’s one thing we learned this weekend (well we didn’t learn this as Cards fans, but the rest of the NFL did) it’s that Green Bay Packers second-year corner Jaire Alexander may just be the fiercest trash talker in all of the NFL.

Against Denver, Jaire Alexander was legitimately everywhere on defense, making play after play. That included stealing lunch right of the hands of rookie tight end Noah Fant after a reception, like a bully.

That led to Alexander speaking the truth post-game.

We’ve known it was going to happen, but now the rest of the NFL is learning just how great Jaire Alexander can be – and he’s just starting to tap into his potential. Week one against the Bears, Chris Collinsworth crowned Alexander as one of the next best up and coming corners in the league, and so far through three games, he’s shown that.

Just like at Louisville, the Packers coaches have seen that you can put Alexander one-on-one on just about anyone you’ll more than likely shut down half of the field for an opposing offense.

Josh Bellamy

Opponent: New England Patriots

Stats: 1 total tackle

With Sam Darnold and Trevor Simien out, the Jets looked hopeless. After getting multiple targets in week one and two, Josh Bellamy was never targeted by replacement quarterback Luke Falk.

His loss. Literally.

Reggie Bonnafon

Opponent: Arizona Cardinals

Stats: 2 carries, 5 yards

Former Louisville offensive specialist Reggie Bonnafon continued to see time on the field this weekend for the Panthers on special teams, but for the first time this season he saw action in the backfield.

While it wasn’t much, Bonnafon provided much-needed relief to starting running back Christian McCaffrey, providing five yards on two carries.

Bonnafon getting involved on offense is a nice sign of progress as a running back in the NFL. Not saying there’s a correspondence, but in games where Reggie Bonnafon receives a carry, the Panthers are 1-0.

Keep pounding (the ball to Reggie).

Teddy Bridgewater

Opponent: Seattle Seahawks

Stats: 19/27, 177 yards, 2 touchdowns

I don’t know about you, but watching Teddy Bridgewater play as a team’s starting quarterback nearly brought tears of joy to my eyes.

For the first time since his devastating knee injury, Bridgewater took the field as a team’s starting quarterback in a meaningful game.

Starting for the injured Drew Brees, who’s out for the next four to six weeks after having thumb surgery, Bridgewater was looking to show people he made the right decision turning down more money with other teams to stay as the Saints backup.

There was no denying the fact that Bridgewater struggled last week, going 17/30 for 165 yards and no touchdowns. It resulted in serious questions for Sean Payton this week about the team’s ability to remain competitive under Bridgewater due to his “limitations” compared to backup quarterback/offensive army knife Taysom Hill.

Ultimately it was Bridgewater who started against the Seahawks, and just about every doubter, including one Rex Ryan, were quieted by his play. Against one of the NFL’s most successful teams the past few seasons, Bridgewater looked like a guy who never suffered a nearly career-ending injury.

He looked comfortable in all areas of the game, and just like we’ve seen for years, he played within himself and made sure he took care of the football. Unlike last week, he showed an improved ability and desire to get the ball into the hands of his top playmakers Alvin Kamara and Michael Thomas, as the two combined for 215 yards of total offense and three touchdowns.

Postgame, Bridgewater spoke about what it meant to him to once again be a starter and play well.

"“I was just thinking about the process from the time I was injured up until now,” Bridgewater said. “Just thinking about all the ones who believed in me and just being back on this stage and getting to show how faithful God is, all my emotions were running at the same time.”"

This is the moment we’ve all been waiting for. Watching such a humble and lovable guy like Teddy Bridgewater go through all the issues he’s had with his knee injury has been more than difficult the last few years.

Louisville fans have been 1,000,000 percent in Bridgewater’s corner throughout his recovery, just hoping for the best and for the rest of the world to see what we experienced at Louisville. This weekend that happened and it was glorious.

With Bridgewater under center, the Cardinals have two quarterbacks who looked primed to lead their respective teams to successful seasons.

Preston Brown

Opponent: Buffalo Bills

Stats: 6 total tackles (6 solo), 1 fumble recovery

No one was going to have to remind the Buffalo Bills that Preston Brown was tackling machine as the organization was very familar with his working having played there for the first portion of his career.

Even in a losing effort, Brown finished with six tackles and a fumble recovery for the Bengals. Under Zac Taylor, the Bengals are now 0-3 and look like they are destined for a top pick this season.

The more interesting thing to note was the tweet below from Jordan Nwora, who hails from Buffalo, NY. We all know Coach Mack is from the Cincinnati area and doesn’t hide his fandom (while it is a poor taste in teams) of the Bengals on social media. Not sure if there were any implications on this game, like say Chris Mack has to jump through a table if the Bills win, but whatever it is I’d like to know more.

Also, the Buffalo Bills are 3-0 in the regular season when former Louisville legend and 2019 Cardinal Hall of Fame inductee, Eric Wood, works on the game broadcast.

Brandon Dunn – DT, Houston Texans

Opponent: Los Angeles Chargers

Stats: 1 total tackle (1 solo), 1 tackle for loss

Subbing in at defensive tackle, Brandon Dunn was serviceable for the Texas per usual recording one tackle for loss.

Josh Harvey-Clemons – LB, Washington Redskins

Opponent: Chicago Bears

Stats: 1 total tackle 

Josh Harvey-Clemons subbed in at LB for the Redskins in their 31-15 loss to the Chicago Bears on Monday Night Football and had one special teams tackle.

Lamar Jackson – QB, Baltimore Ravens

Opponent: Kansas City Chiefs

Stats: 22/43, 267 passing yards, 0 touchdowns, 0 INT, 8 carries, 43 yards, 1 touchdown

Presley Meyer wrote yesterday that the biggest takeaway from the Ravens/Chiefs matchup was that Lamar Jackson proved that along with Patrick Mahomes, he is the future of the NFL.

With the Chiefs defense making things extremely difficult for Jackson, unlike what he had seen in two weeks, it looked early like this may be the game that sent the second-year quarterback, back to reality.

His haters were just waiting. Waiting for the game where he played a strong defense and couldn’t make the same type of throws he did against Arizona and Miami in weeks one and two.

Unfortunately for them (fortunately, really) they’ll have to keep waiting. Even with his team having their back’s against the wall, Jackson showed incredible growth and poise, doing so in a manner that the NFL hasn’t seen since maybe (and there’s a real emphasis on the word maybe) Michael Vick.

With the Chiefs up 23-6, Jackson led the Ravens back in major way, doing serious damage to the Chiefs defense and their ankles in the process. Eventually, Jackson’s play, along with the running of Mark Ingram, put the score back within a single touchdown, before it ultimately slipped out of their hands late.

Even with Patrick Mahomes throwing for 374 yards and three touchdowns, which is just another day at the office, the talk post-game was all about the play of Lamar Jackson.

This wasn’t a Lamar Jackson ran all over us and we had no way to stop it, but we limited his passing type of talk. This was a Jackson threw the ball 44 times, completing 22 of those, and looked like a potential Pro Bowl-caliber quarterback and dark-horse MVP candidate type discussion.

The NFL is seeing the birth of a star in front of their eyes each week in Lamar Jackson, and its unfortunate that no matter what there’s going to be a discussion about his capabilities as a quarterback.

If the first three weeks of the season where Lamar Jackson has totaled 863 passing yards, seven touchdowns along with another 172 rushing yards and a touchdown, we’ve seen the potential and what could be of Lamar Jackson, all while realizing the facade of a running offense was all just a smokescreen for this.

Also, this picture seems iconic to me.

DeVante Parker – WR, Miami Dolphins

Opponent: Dallas Cowboys

Stats: 6 targets, 3 receptions, 56 yards

After going catch less in week two, DeVante Parker looked a little bit more like the talented receiver we’ve seen in spurts throughout his career. But, it came in another big loss for the Dolphins, this time against the Cowboys.

Parker has six receptions for 131 yards on the season as well as a couple of really nice highlight plays, including this one.

https://twitter.com/thecheckdown/status/1175818638349066241

Josh Rosen seemed to be a guy who can get the ball to DeVante Parker, targeting six times on Sunday. Hopefully, despite the Dolphins being in 100 percent tank mode, Parker can play a big role and either land with another team via trade or free agency.

Played but did not record a stat:

Jamon Brown – OG, Atlanta Falcons

John Miller – OG, Cincinnati Bengals

Bilal Powell – RB, New York Jets