Baltimore Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey signed a five-year contract extension worth a reported $98.75 million on Thursday. On Sunday, the former Hoover High School and Alabama standout showed why the Ravens were willing to make him one of the highest-paid cornerbacks in the NFL.
During Baltimore’s 31-17 victory over the Washington Football Team, Humphrey reached a career high with nine tackles, broke up a pass and, in a play that’s becoming his calling card, forced a fumble.
On a pass completed behind the line of scrimmage during Washington’s second possession, Humphrey stripped the football from running back J.D. McKissic, a former standout at Central High School in Phenix City.
Ravens cornerback Marcus Peters recovered the loose football at the Washington 34-yard line. Two snaps later, former Alabama All-American Mark Ingram plunged into the end zone from 1 yard out for the game’s first points.
“It seemed like they were having some success, and they were stopping our offense a little bit,” Humphrey said, “so we were not playing great at the beginning, and I was able to get a turnover early on there and was able to catch us a little momentum, so it was really good to get a big play in that first quarter.”
Humphrey has forced two fumbles in the past three games. He also had two forced fumbles last season, when he earned first-team All-Pro recognition.
“However way we can get a turnover, it’s big for the team,” Humphrey said. “We have analytics guys that show if you can get a turnover here, it equates to this many points and all these different things, so the biggest thing that you can have on defense is a defense that creates turnovers, whether it’s an interception or a forced fumble or sack — that’s not a turnover, but it’s still a big (play). So whatever I can do and whatever the defense can do to get a turnover is always huge.”
AFTER SIGNING BIG DEAL, MARLON HUMPHREY BATTLES TEARS TALKING ABOUT HIS DAD
Humphrey was among the 37 former Alabama players who got on the field on the fourth Sunday of the NFL’s 101st season.
Ten other former Alabama players were at the Baltimore-Washington game:
· Jonathan Allen started at defensive tackle for Washington. Allen made three tackles.
· Washington defensive end Ryan Anderson (Daphne) made a tackle for loss.
· Anthony Averett started at cornerback for the Ravens. Averett reached a career high with five tackles and broke up a pass.
· Bradley Bozeman (Handley) started at left guard for the Ravens.
· Landon Collins started at strong safety for Washington. Collins made eight tackles.
· D.J. Fluker (Foley) started at right offensive tackle for the Ravens. Fluker filled in for All-Pro tackle Ronnie Stanley, who missed the past two days of practice because of a shoulder injury.
· Washington linebacker Shaun Dion Hamilton (Carver-Montgomery) made two tackles.
· Mark Ingram started at running back for the Ravens. Ingram ran for 34 yards and a touchdown on eight carries and caught a 3-yard pass.
· Daron Payne (Shades Valley) started at defensive tackle for Washington. Payne made five tackles and registered a quarterback hit.
· Washington wide receiver Cam Sims caught two passes for 17 yards. Sims entered the game with two receptions for 27 yards in his NFL career.
In the other Sunday games:
Carolina Panthers 31, Arizona Cardinals 21
· Kenyan Drake started at running back for the Cardinals. Drake ran for 35 yards on 13 carries. Drake left the game for the locker room after a hard hit on Arizona’s final possession.
· Cardinals cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick (Gadsden City) made three tackles.
· Deionte Thompson started at safety for the Cardinals. Thompson made nine tackles and broke up a pass in his first start of the season. The second-year player had 22 tackles and no pass breakups in his 13 NFL games entering Sunday’s contest. His previous game high for tackles was four.
Cincinnati Bengals 33, Jacksonville Jaguars 25
· Bengals cornerback Tony Brown played but did not record any stats.
· Cam Robinson started at left offensive tackle for the Jaguars.
· Jonah Williams started at left offensive tackle for the Bengals.
Cleveland Browns 49, Dallas Cowboys 38
· Amari Cooper started at wide receiver for the Cowboys. Cooper caught 12 passes for 134 yards and one touchdown. Cooper scored on a 20-yard play as Dallas took a 14-7 lead with 2:08 left in the first quarter. Cooper tied his career single-game high for receptions, matching his 12 receptions on Oct. 30, 2016. Cooper recorded his 21st 100-yard performance of his 81-game career and second of the season. Cooper also recorded the third 2-point conversion of his career, scoring on a run instead of a reception as Dallas cut Cleveland’s lead to 41-38 with 3:42 to play.
· Trevon Diggs started at cornerback for the Cowboys. Diggs made eight tackles and registered his first NFL sack.
· Browns safety Ronnie Harrison broke up a pass.
· Cowboys cornerback Saivion Smith played but did not record any stats.
· Jedrick Wills started at left offensive tackle for the Browns. Cleveland ran for 307 yards, the most ever yielded in a game by Dallas.
· Browns linebacker Mack Wilson (Carver-Montgomery) made one tackle.
New Orleans Saints 35, Detroit Lions 29
· Lions defensive lineman Da’Shawn Hand made one tackle.
· Lions linebacker Reggie Ragland (Bob Jones) made six tackles, including his first sack of the season. Ragland entered the game with four tackles.
Minnesota Vikings 31, Houston Texans 23
· Texans quarterback AJ McCarron (St. Paul’s Episcopal) did not play.
· Vikings tight end Irv Smith Jr. played but did not record any stats.
Seattle Seahawks 31, Miami Dolphins 23
· Dolphins defensive tackle Raekwon Davis played but did not record any stats.
· Jarran Reed started at defensive tackle for the Seahawks. Reed made two tackles.
· Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa did not play.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 38, Los Angeles Chargers 31
· Buccaneers tight end O.J. Howard (Autauga Academy) caught three passes for 50 yards and one touchdown. Howard scored on a 28-yard reception, but in the fourth quarter, he was carted off the field with a leg injury.
BUCS FEAR O.J. HOWARD SUFFERED SEASON-ENDING INJURY
· Chargers long snapper Cole Mazza handled the snaps on four extra-point kicks, three punts and two field-goal attempts.
· Chargers nose tackle Damion Square made two tackles.
Los Angeles Rams 17, New York Giants 9
· Dalvin Tomlinson started at nose tackle for the Giants. Tomlinson made two tackles, including one behind the line of scrimmage, and broke up a pass.
Indianapolis Colts 19, Chicago Bears 11
· Eddie Jackson started at safety for the Bears. Jackson made five tackles, including one behind the line of scrimmage.
· Ryan Kelly started at center for the Colts.
Buffalo Bills 30, Las Vegas Raiders 23
· Josh Jacobs started at running back for the Raiders. Jacobs ran for 48 yards on 15 carries and caught three passes for 25 yards. Jacobs’ average of 3.2 yards per carry was the worst for a game during his NFL career.
· Raiders wide receiver Henry Ruggs III (Lee-Montgomery) was designated as a game-day inactive. Ruggs did not practice during the week and was listed on the Las Vegas injury report as having a knee/hamstring injury.
· Levi Wallace started at right cornerback for the Bills. Wallace did not record any stats before leaving the game with an ankle injury.
· Bills running T.J. Yeldon (Daphne) played but did not record any stats.
Philadelphia Eagles 25, San Francisco 49ers 20
· Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts had three carries for 18 yards. Hurts had a 14-yard run, but he also had a mishandled snap that lost 8 yards.
Week 4 of the 2020 NFL season started on Thursday night with the Denver Broncos’ 37-28 victory over the New York Jets. Jerry Jeudy scored his first NFL touchdown on a 48-yard reception for the Broncos.
Week 4 concludes on Monday, when the New England Patriots visit the Kansas City Chiefs at 6:05 p.m. CDT and the Atlanta Falcons visit the Green Bay Packers at 7:50 p.m. CBS will televise the earlier game, and ESPN will televise the later game.
The Patriots-Chiefs game had been scheduled for Sunday, but a positive COVID-19 test from each team, including New England quarterback Cam Newton, caused the contest to be rescheduled.
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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.
