University of Tennessee Athletics
Vols in the NFL - Week 1 Highlights
September 11, 2007 | Football
The 2007 NFL season kicked off this weekend with 38 former Tennessee Volunteers on NFL rosters. Due to injuries and roster limitations, only 33 were active for Week 1 games. The following is a list of the top performers among former Vols during the NFL???s opening weekend.??
?????In the league???s feature game on Thursday night, Peyton Manning led the defending
Super Bowl Champion Indianapolis Colts to a 41-10 win over the New Orleans Saints. Manning completed 18 of 30 passes for 288 yards and three touchdowns. Manning???s 125.4 efficiency rating was good enough for fifth in the league among quarterbacks.
?????Tight end Jason Witten was Dallas??? leading receiver in a 45-35 win over the New York Giants Sunday night. Witten caught six passes for 116 yards and a touchdown in his best performance since he caught nine passes for 133 yards in a November 2004 game against Philadelphia.?? Witten???s 116-yard total was the eighth-best performance among all receivers in Week 1 and the best among tight ends.
?????Though the Giants fell to the Cowboys, safety Gibril Wilson led the team with eight
tackles. He also recorded one pass defense and an interception that allowed the Giants to pull within a field goal midway through the fourth quarter.
?????Travis Henry ran for 139 yards on 23 carries and caught three passes for 44 yards in
the Denver Broncos??? 15-14 win at Buffalo on Sunday. Henry, who was drafted by the Bills in 2001, became only the third player in Broncos history to rush for more than a 100 yards in his debut with the team. Henry???s 139-yard effort was good enough for second in the league behind the Tennessee Titans??? Chris Brown, who rushed for 175 yards.
?????In the Titans??? 13-10 win over Jacksonville, Albert Haynesworth started at
right tackle on a defensive line that allowed the Jaguars only 72 yards rushing in the game. Haynesworth also tied for the team lead with five tackles. The Jaguars were third in the league in rushing in 2006, averaging 158.8 yards per game on the ground.
?????Three former Vols saw their first NFL action this weekend. Arron Sears, a 2007
second-round draft pick by Tampa Bay, started at left guard Sunday in the Buccaneers??? 20-6 loss to the Seahawks. One of Kansas City???s second-round picks, defensive tackle Turk McBride, played in a reserve role in the Chiefs??? 20-3 loss to the Texans, while cornerback Jonathan Wade, a third-round pick for St. Louis, did the same in the Rams??? 27-13 loss to the Panthers.??
