Longhorns in the NFL — Week 12: Diggs forces another turnover

Here’s a roundup on the former Texas Longhorns who made an impact throughout this past weekend’s slate of NFL games.

Notable Week 12 performances and highlights

• Veteran safety Kenny Vaccaro notched five tackles and his first sack of the season in a 42-20 win.
• Two games, two turnovers so far for Quandre Diggs in a Seattle uniform. Early in the fourth quarter in a two-possession game, Diggs pursued a pile around the ball carrier, stripped the ball free, and recovered it for his second forced turnover in as many games with Seattle.

Since joining the Seahawks back end, Seattle has held each opposing quarterback under 250 passing yards with Diggs at safety compared to their 282.6 season average. They’ve allowed just 16.5 points per game, too.

Diggs’ early significant contribution continues to be echoed through the words of his head coach Pete Carroll, as Carroll praised his intensity and compared it to a former Texas safety that he coached from 2011-2018.

• The Los Angeles Chargers signed Malik Jefferson to a practice squad deal on Monday afternoon. After being released by Cincinnati and Cleveland throughout the past year, hopefully Jefferson can finally make his mark in the league under Chargers defensive coordinator Gus Bradley. Bradley’s defense mostly runs a 4-3 scheme, but will also go into a 3-4 look at times to create pressure with their linebackers. While the Chargers have elite play on the edge with defensive ends Joey Bosa and Melvin Ingram, poor linebacker play and injuries in their secondary has plagued Bradley’s defense this season. So the opportunity to emerge as a contributor at linebacker is certainly there for Jefferson.

Week 12 Games to Watch

• 10-1 San Francisco 49ers; Marquise Goodwin vs. 9-2 Baltimore Ravens; Earl Thomas, DeShon Elliott, Justin Tucker — Sunday, 12:00 p.m. CT FOX
• Diggs and 9-2 Seattle Seahawks back on Monday Night Football vs. 8-3 Minnesota Vikings — Monday, 7:15 p.m. CT ESPN