Maryland in the NFL: Vernon Davis, Darrius Heyward-Bey lead the way in Week 7

We’re seven weeks into the NFL season, and by now, we’re starting to figure out which players and teams are for real and which aren’t. Some of us have had to significantly lower our expectations for our favorite teams (looking at you, Ravens), but at least we can still live vicariously through former Terps for the rest of the season. Here’s how they did this week.

Vernon Davis, TE, Washington Redskins

Davis turned in another strong performance, catching six passes for 79 yards in a 20-17 loss to the Lions. He has been thriving the past two games with Jordan Reed out, and should continue to do so until Reed comes back.

Darrius Heyward-Bey, WR; Sean Davis, S, Pittsburgh Steelers

Heyward-Bey had his best performance of the season in terms of touches, catching three balls for 30 yards and a touchdown in a 27-16 loss to the Patriots. Landry Jones found Heyward-Bey for a 14-yard touchdown to put the Steelers on the board with 9:02 left in the second quarter, and he would’ve had another touchdown on the Steelers next drive if Chris Hubbard wasn’t called for a holding penalty.

Davis was active Sunday, but did not make any tackles. He is still adjusting to playing safety, so he won’t see the field a lot over the next few weeks.

D’Qwell Jackson, LB, Indianapolis Colts

Jackson had another solid performance, accumulating nine tackles, a quarterback hit, and one pass broken up in the Colts’ 34-26 win over the Titans. After a slow start to the season, he has led the Colts in tackles three out of the last four weeks.

Nolan Carroll, CB, Philadelphia Eagles

Carroll made five tackles and broke up two passes as the Eagles handed the Vikings their first loss of the season. He was part of an Eagles defense that forced four turnovers and helped shut down Stefon Diggs. In an article on PennLive earlier this week, Carroll said he’s admired Diggs for a while, adding that he was the team’s only bright spot during his days at Maryland, and that the Terps “kind of sucked when [Diggs] was there.”

Stefon Diggs, WR, Minnesota Vikings

Diggs turned in his worst performance of the season Sunday, catching just two passes for 18 yards in a 21-10 loss to the Eagles. After missing the Vikings’ last game with a groin injury he was the team’s third most targeted receiver with 5. He was also pushed away by a referee during a scrum in the end zone following an interception by Sam Bradford.

Nick Novak, K, Houston Texans

The kicker hit all three of his field goals, which was probably the only thing that went right for the Texans on Monday. Their offense was held to just 271 yards, and Brock Osweiler threw for only 131 yards on 22 completions in his return to Denver.

Yannick Ngakoue, DE, Jacksonville Jaguars

After getting a sack in each of the last four games, the rookie could not find the quarterback and recorded two tackles in a 33-16 loss to the Raiders. According to the Jaguars public relations office, he was just the second player in NFL history to have four sacks and an interception in his first five games, joining Terrell Suggs.

Torrey Smith, WR, San Francisco 49ers

After having his best performance of the season in Week 6, Smith regressed back to his usual uninspiring performance, catching just one pass for 17 yards in a 34-17 loss to the Buccaneers. He was just part of the 49ers’ disastrous passing game, as Colin Kaepernick completed just 16 of 34 passes for 143 yards in the loss.

According to Pro Football Talk, the 49ers and Eagles are discussing a trade that would send the wideout to Philadelphia. This would probably be a good thing for Smith, whose production has plummeted since he signed with the 49ers after the 2014 season.

Jon Condo, LS, Oakland Raiders

Condo had a rare mishap on Sunday and forced punter Marquette King to scramble after an errant snap on a fourth-and-24 late in the fourth quarter. But luckily for Condo, King scrambled for 27 yards to pick up the first down, and Latavius Murray punched it in for the Raiders four plays later.

That’s ludicrous speed for a punter, and Condo should probably get ready for a few fake punt calls.

Darius Kilgo, DT, Denver Broncos

Kilgo made just one tackle during the Broncos’ 27-9 win over the Texans. He has recorded a tackle in back-to-back weeks, but is struggling to get on the field.

Erin Henderson, LB, New York Jets

Henderson was placed on the Reserve Non-Football Injury/Illness Saturday list for reasons that have not yet been announced. This is shorter than regular IR as it lasts eight weeks compared to the whole season. If the Jets don’t activate him after eight weeks, his season will be over.