Jackrabbits in the NFL: Preseason Week Two

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Part of a weekly update, following the five active Jackrabbits in the National Football League.

Dallas Goedert (Philadelphia Eagles) SDSU: 2014-17

Weekly Notes: In his second preseason game, Goedert saw playing time midway through the first half as the second-string tight end, competing in 59 offensive plays. The SDSU alum gathered in three catches on six targets for 57 yards with a long of 28 yards in a 34-20 loss to the New England Patriots on Thursday.

His first target came on the first play of the Eagles’ drive with 52 seconds left to play in the first half. It was a 28-yard catch down the left hash to New England’s 47-yard line, which ignited the offense to catch three consecutive first downs and move the ball 67 yards to the Patriots’ 8-yard line with 30 seconds left to play. 

The first-year tight end had an opportunity to score in the corner of the end zone with 7 minutes left to play in the third quarter. Goedert leaped up and caught the ball but the defensive back knocked it out of his hands before he could complete the catch.

Late in the third quarter, Goedert brought in another 28-yard grab deep down the right side of the field on a first-down play to bring the Eagles to midfield. As the Patriots’ defenders tried to bring him down, they drew a 15-yard personal foul to move the offense onto New England’s 31-yard line. On the next play, the squad scored the final touchdown of the game.

Up Next: At Cleveland Browns (Thursday, 7 p.m.)

Season Notes: Scored his first touchdown in his debut preseason game, a 31-14 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers (Aug. 9) ... his most catches (four) and receiving yards (66) came in his preseason debut against the Steelers while his longest catch (28) came against the New England Patriots (Aug. 16) ... has gather seven catches for 123 yards and one touchdown through two preseason games (89 offensive plays).

Adam Vinatieri (Indianapolis Colts) SDSU: 1991-94

Weekly Notes: Vinatieri went 1-for-1 on field-goal attempts in Monday’s preseason 20-19 loss against the Baltimore Ravens. The Colts had an opportunity to tie the game in the fourth quarter after they scored a touchdown to bring the score to 20-19 with 2:29 left to play but decided to run the ball for a two-point conversion and failed.

He tied his career-long field goal of 57 yards to take a 3-0 lead with 49 seconds left in the first quarter. With 5:26 left to play in the second quarter, he tacked on an extra-point to take a 10-7 lead.

The back-up kicker, Michael Badgley, made a 43-yard attempt with just over six minutes to play in the fourth quarter.

Up Next: Vs. San Francisco 49ers (Saturday, 3:30 p.m.)

Season Notes: Vinatieri has gone 4-for-4 on field goal attempts with a season-best 57-yarder against the Ravens (Aug. 20) and 1-for-1 extra-point attempts through two preseason games ... has made field goals from 33, 45, 51 and 57 yards out so far.

Career Notes: Has played in 337 games (1996-05 - New England Patriots, 2006-present - Indianapolis Colts) prior to the 2018 season, making 559-of-663 field goals (84.3 percent) with a long of 57 yards in 2002 ... four-time Super Bowl winning place kicker ... two-time pro-bowl starter ... two-time all-pro team selection ... nominated as the NFL 2000’s All-Decade team ... he has several NFL records including: most seasons with 100-plus points (20 - 1996-2008, 2010, 2012-2017), most postseason field goals in a career (56), most consecutive games in a single postseason with three-plus field goals (4), most career points in postseason (234), most points in a single postseason (49), most field goals in a single postseason (14), most field goals in Super Bowls (7), most extra points in Super Bowls (13), most field goals in overtime (12), most consecutive field goals in NFL history (44), most Super Bowl wins by a place kicker (4), most Super Bowl appearances by a place kicker (5) and most playoff games by a place kicker (30), which also ranks second of any position (Tom Brady has 37).

Jake Wieneke (Minnesota Vikings) SDSU: 2014-17

Weekly Notes: Wieneke caught all three of his targets for 21 yards, including a long of 14 yards, in a 14-10 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars on Saturday.

Recorded his first catch with 8:22 to play and the Vikings leading 10-7. It was a wide receiver bubble screen attempt that only garnered 1 yard.

Two possessions later, the Vikings trailed 14-10 after the Jaguars scored with under 2 minutes to play. Wieneke caught back-to-back passes for 6 and 14 yards on the final drive of the game to move the Vikings across midfield to the Jags’ 36-yard line. The offense eventually fumbled on a sack at the Jacksonville 16-yard line.

Wieneke’s 14-yard catch was a quick slant on the left side of the field that he took from midfield to the defense’s 36-yard line.

Up Next: Vs. Seattle Seahawks (Friday, 7 p.m.)

Season Notes: Wieneke has tallied four catches for 37 yards with a long of 16 yards through two preseason games (35 offensive plays) with the Minnesota Vikings ... recorded his first catch, a 16-yard grab up the middle of the field, in the fourth quarter of the first preseason game against the Denver Broncos (Aug. 11) ... recorded his most catches and yards in a preseason game last weekend (three catches, 21 yards) against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Bryan Witzmann (Kansas City Chiefs) SDSU: 2010-13

Weekly Notes: Witzmann started the second half and played nearly the whole third quarter at left guard in a 28-14 win against the Atlanta Falcons. The Chiefs were down 14-10 at the end of the first half but scored on the first second-half offensive possession, a 10-play, 76-yard drive. In the 30 plays Witzmann played, the offense gathered 109 yards and seven points in two possessions.

Up Next: At Chicago Bears (Saturday, noon)

Season Notes: The Chiefs’ offense has tallied 305 offensive yards, including three scoring drives (90 yards - touchdown, 61 yards - field goal, 76 yards - touchdown) that have resulted in 17 of the 45 points scored through two preseason games ... has competed in nearly three quarters of total playing time and 68 plays as the second-string offensive guard.

Career Notes: Witzmann signed with the Houston Texans as an undrafted free agent in May, 2014 ... He was placed on injured reserve in August, 2014 and in September, 2015, Witzmann was waived by the Texans ... In September, 2015, Witzmann was signed to the New Orleans Saints’ practice squad ... He was released by the Saints in November, 2015 but was re-signed in December ... He signed a futures contract with the Saints in January, 2016 and was waived in May, 2016 ... In June, 2016, Witzmann signed with the Dallas Cowboys and was released by the Cowboys in September, 2016 ... He was claimed off waivers by the Kansas City Chiefs in September, 2016 ... In July, 2017, he signed a one-year contract extension with the Chiefs through 2018 ... In 2017, Witzmann played in all 16 games, starting 13 at left guard for the Chiefs ... during the 2017 season, the Chiefs had 6,007 total offensive yards (ranking fifth in yards per game) including, 1,903 rushing yards (ninth in the league) and 4,104 passing yards (seventh in the league) ... they scored 42 touchdowns - 12 rushing and 26 passing (25.9 points per game - sixth in the NFL).

Zach Zenner (Detriot Lions) SDSU: 2011-14

Weekly Notes: Zenner grabbed one catch for 11 yards in a 30-17 loss to the New York Giants on Friday. He competed in 15 offensive plays and 10 special team plays in the team’s second preseason game.

His catch came on a 4-yard third-down conversion where he caught a dump-off pass at the left side of the line-of-scrimmage from his hurried quarterback, Jake Rudock. Zenner then scampered out of a tackle short of the first-down marker and lowered shoulder into a Giants’ defender at the defense’s 42-yard line.

The drive churned out the last touchdown of the game on a fourth-and-1 touchdown quarterback sneak at the goal line with 26 seconds left, concluding a 14-play, 71-yard drive that took three minutes, 45 seconds.

Up Next: At Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Friday, 7 p.m.)

Season Notes: Zenner has tallied four rushing attempts for 11 yards with a long of seven yards (all against the Oakland Raiders, Aug. 10) and one catch for 11 yards (against the New York Giants, Aug. 17) so far through two preseason games ... has tallied 24 offensive plays and 20 special teams plays to this point.

Career Notes: The Detroit Lions signed him as an undrafted free agent in 2015 ... In May, 2015, the Detroit Lions signed him to a three-year deal ... In 2015, Zenner entered training camp competing for the fourth running back on the Lions’ depth chart ... He ultimately won the position, leading the NFL in rushing yards during the preseason, and went into the regular season as the fourth backup ... made his professional regular-season debut in the Lions’ season opener at the San Diego Chargers, finishing with two carries for six rushing yards ... On Oct. 12, 2015, Zenner earned his first career start and had a season-high ten carries for 30 rushing yards against the Arizona Cardinals ... On Oct. 16, 2016, he earned his first start of the season and finished with a career-high 14 rushing attempts for 58 rushing yards and caught two passes for 14 yards during a 31-28 victory over the Los Angeles Rams ... The following week, he scored his first career touchdown on a 1-yard run in the third quarter of a 20-17 win against the Washington Redskins ... On December 26, 2016, in a Monday Night Football game, Zenner had 12 carries for 67 rushing yards and a career-high two rushing touchdowns in the first half of the Lions’ 42-21 loss to the Dallas Cowboys ... In a limited role in the 2017 season, Zenner had 14 carries for 26 yards and a rushing touchdown ... has 119 career attempts for 420 yards and five touchdowns in three seasons with the Lions He also has 207 career receiving yards.

Photo from www.gojacks.com.