Northwestern in the NFL, Week 4: Anthony Walker continues to tackle people well

It’s a month into the NFL season, and former NU standouts have continued to make their mark on Sundays. 11 Northwestern alums made the 53-man rosters for their respective teams. Here’s an update on how these former Wildcats fared in the fourth week of NFL action:

Dean Lowry, DE, Green Bay Packers: The Packers defense turned in its first sub-par performance of 2019, when the Eagles rushed for 179 yards on 5.3 YPC. Lowry made four stops against a physical offensive line, but got pushed around a bit, like the rest of the Packers’ front.

Tyler Lancaster, NT, Green Bay Packers: Lancaster got his second start of the season and played just about half of the defensive snaps but failed to record any stats. Regardless, the former UDFA has pretty much cemented himself in the same role he played at Northwestern at the next level.

Dan Vitale, FB, Green Bay Packers: Vitale carried once for three yards and caught two passes for 15 yards in the Packers’ Thursday night loss to Philly. After the early injury knocked backup RB Jamaal Williams out of the game, Vitale played 20 snaps, and was called upon often as a blocker. Though his team couldn’t get the win, Vitale did his job.

Anthony Walker, MLB, Indianapolis Colts: Walker had yet another busy day in the teeth of the Indy defense, playing every single defensive snap and making 10 tackles while recording his first sack of the season in a tough loss to Oakland. The middle linebacker is proving plenty capable as the captain on the field for the Colts, at least on the defensive side, especially with partner Darius Leonard injured.

Justin Jackson, RB, Los Angeles Chargers: JJTBC didn’t play due to a calf injury, and his snap count will most certainly take a hit moving forward with Melvin Gordon now back in the fold as the starting running back.

Ifeadi Odenigbo, DE, Minnesota Vikings: The second-year player has played in all four games this season and made his first plays against the Bears. He logged one solo and one combined tackle despite playing just 12 snaps. The former seventh-round pick is making a bid for more action, though it will be tough to fully break out with how many options Minnesota has up front.

Austin Carr, WR, New Orleans Saints: The former All-Big Ten standout played 62 percent of the Saints’ offensive snaps versus the Cowboys but has yet to record any statistics this season. He has had success as a blocking wideout, but just hasn’t been targeted much despite injuries elevating the former walk-on Wildcat to the WR3 role.

Sherrick McManis, DB/Special Teams, Chicago Bears: McManis was back on the field against Minnesota after being inactive for two straight weeks. He played mostly on special teams and got a few snaps at defensive back in Chicago’s 16-6 defensive smothering of the Vikings, making an important tackle to stymie a punt return.

Joe Jones, ILB, Denver Broncos: The triceps injury Jones suffered in the Hall of Fame Game kept him out of Sunday’s contest with the Jaguars, but he was listed as a game-time decision, which shows that he’s almost healthy enough to play again. He logged limited practices last week and there’s a good shot he makes his season debut this week versus the Chargers.

Garrett Dickerson, TE, New York Giants: Dickerson was active for his hometown team for the first time this season but didn’t record a stat in Daniel Jones’ first home win. He played just six snaps as the team looks to ease him in coming back from a quad injury.

Trevor Siemian, QB, New York Jets: You know by now he’s out for the season. :( :( :(

Practice Squad Members: Nate Hall, LB, Buffalo Bills; Clayton Thorson, QB, Dallas Cowboys; Blake Hance, OT, Jacksonville Jaguars; Montre Hartage, S, Miami Dolphins