Ex-Huskies Come Up Big With Sunday NFL Outings

Following a five-week injury absence, Jonah Coleman celebrated his return to NFL active duty as a rookie running back by rushing for 54 yards for the Denver Broncos.

On national tight-ends day, Drew Sample caught a 16-yard touchdown pass, the sixth score of his eight-year career, for the Cincinnati Bengals.

And Michael Penix Jr. absolutely picked apart the San Francisco 49ers secondary by throwing 3 touchdown passes for the Atlanta Falcons for the third time in his career in a 29-20 victory at home.

Such were the highlighted performances by former University of Washington football players on Sunday across the pro football landscape.

Dealing with an ankle injury, the 5-foot-8, 220-pound Coleman ran the ball more times than any other Denver running back as the Broncos beat the Arizona Cardinals 30-16 on the road. He had a long gainer of 15 yards. He also caught 2 passes for 15 yards.

Only Broncos quarterback Bo Nix, who had a 62-yard run among seven carries for 73 yards, had more ground game production.

The 6-foot-5, 260-pound Sample, best known for his blocking prowess, capped off the Bengals' 35-13 victory in Baltimore. He finished with 2 catches for 24 yards.

Penix was at his best as he brought the Falcons back from a 14-3 deficit by throwing a 1-yard TD pass to tight end Nick Muse in the secod quarter, a 5-yard scoring toss to wide receiver Kyle Pitts in the third quarter to put his team ahead for good at 19-14 and a 21-yard TD strike to wide receiver Drake London in the fourth quarter.

Standing cool in the pocket, the 6-foot-3, 220-pound lefty quarterback completed 25 of 34 passes for 213 yards and avoided a sack as his team improved to 3-4, 3-2 with him running the show.

Elsewhere for former Huskies, rookie wide receiver Denzel Boston caught 3 passes for 27 yards, with a long of 15, to help the rejuvenated Cleveland Browns pull out a 27-24 victory over the Tennessee Titans in Nashville. The Browns are 5-2.

In Minnesota, cornerback Byron Murphy had 3 tackles and a pass break-up in the Vikings' 16-10 win over the Indianapolis Colts to help keep his team unbeaten at 6-0.

For Tampa Bay, veteran defensive tackle Vita Vea came up with a sack in the Buccaneers' 43-13 rout of the Carolina Panthers in Charlotte. It was his first sack of the season and 36th in his career.