Cincinnati Bengals punter Kevin Huber was lost for the season after suffering a broken jaw -- and possibly a cracked vertebra -- when he was drilled by Steelers linebacker Terence Garvin during the Steelers 30-20 victory on Sunday night.
While Antonio Brown was returning a punt for a touchdown, Garvin leveled Huber with a massive hit that left the punter bloodied and ended with Huber being placed on injured reserve. There was no penalty called on the play, however, according to Dean Blandino, the NFL's vice president of officiating, there should have been.
"Huber, he's a punter. And the key is he's defenseless throughout the down," Blandino said Tuesday while appearing on NFL Network's "NFL Total Access," via NFL.com. "So even though he's pursing the play, he still gets defenseless-player protection. You can't hit him in the head or neck, and you can't use the crown or forehead parts of the helmet to the body.
"This is an illegal block. It should have been a flag for a 15-yard penalty," Blandino continued. "... (Y)ou can see the contract to the head or neck area. So this will certainly be a point of emphasis this week, especially with our referees who are responsible for the punter on plays like this.
"We have to watch the punter, he's defenseless. And we want to flag hits like that."
