Hoos in the NFL: Recapping Week 14 for Former UVA Football Players

Seven former Virginia football players saw the field in week 14 of the NFL season, while two other former Wahoos were on a bye week. Let's check in to see how all of these former Cavaliers and their respective teams fared in week 14 on this edition of Hoos in the NFL.

The Green Bay Packers fell to the Detroit Lions in a 34-31 thriller on Thursday Night, but it was another solid game for Dontayvion Wicks, who got his second-consecutive start and recorded four catches on five targets for the second game in a row. Wicks finished with 49 receiving yards, his second-most in a game this season, and averaged 12.25 yards per reception while playing 39 offensive snaps (78% of Green Bay's offensive snaps). After a rough stretch in which Wicks played less than half of Green Bay's offensive snaps in five out of six games, he has now been on the field for more than 75% of Green Bay's offensive plays in each of the last two games. The Packers dropped to 9-4 with the loss and are probably out of the race of the NFC North division title, but they are still in good position to snag a wild card spot in the NFC Playoffs.

One week after committing a costly special teams error right at the start of the game, muffing a punt that led to a touchdown, Malik Washington bounced back in a big way with a monumental kick return late in the fourth quarter to help the Miami Dolphins force overtime against the New York Jets, eventually winning 32-26 in overtime. Washington had only one target in the passing game, but had a very productive night on special teams, returning three kicks for 95 yards and one punt for 10 yards. He had a 24-yard kick return in the second quarter, then a 39-yard kick return that came back on a holding penalty, and then a 10-yard punt return in the fourth quarter.

With less than a minute remaining in regulation and his team trailing by three points, Washington made one of the biggest plays of the game, breaking multiple tackles for a 45-yard kick return that set up the Dolphins with golden field position, which they capitalized on by driving and tying the game with a field goal. It was a massive redemptive moment for the rookie out of Virginia after making a critical error in the previous game.

Such an enormous play when Malik Washington had this kick return to set the Dolphins up for the tying field goal that forced overtime.

pic.twitter.com/9GHfJh82Y3
— David Furones (@DavidFurones_) December 9, 2024

Credit where credit is due.

We do not win this game, if not for this return by Malik Washington. 🤝 pic.twitter.com/sBAzWfvchs
— Bobby Shouse (@B_Shousejr) December 8, 2024

The Dolphins went on to win the game in overtime as Tua Tagovailoa connected with Jonnu Smith for a walk-off touchdown. On the other side of the ball, Morgan Moses continued to deal with injuries and did not play every offensive snap for the New York Jets for just the fifth time this season. Moses has been dealing with significant knee injuries all season and then suffered a wrist injury in warm-ups that limited him to just 33 snaps (49%) for the Jets, who fell to 3-10 on the season with the loss while the Dolphins improved to 6-7 to remain in the playoff hunt.

Juan Thornhill returned to the field after missing last week with a calf injury for the Cleveland Browns in their 27-14 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Thornhill recorded three tackles and one solo stop and started the game at safety, but seemed to be somewhat limited as he played just 20 defensive snaps (31%). Rodney McLeod Jr. played 31 defensive snaps at safety (48%) and 14 snaps on special teams (48%), making two solo tackles for the Browns, who fell to 3-10 on the season,

Charles Snowden made one solo tackle in 23 defensive snaps (37%) and four special teams snaps (17%) for the Las Vegas Raiders in their 28-13 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, falling to 2-11 this season.

Joey Blount played no defensive snaps and recorded no defensive stats, but played a season-high 25 special teams snaps (86%) for the Arizona Cardinals in their 30-18 loss to the Seattle Seahawks to drop below .500 at 6-7 on the season.

Olamide Zaccheaus was on a bye with the Washington Commanders and Brent Urban was on a bye with the Baltimore Ravens.

Two other former Cavaliers are on injured reserve, as Bryce Hall went down with an ankle injury in the season opener, while Jelani Woods suffered a toe injury in preseason and was placed on season-ending IR.

Read last week's edition of Hoos in the NFL here: Hoos in the NFL: Recapping NFL Week 13 for Former Virginia Football Players