Thanks to his performance on Sunday, Kene Nwangwu was named the AFC Special Teams Player of the Week in his first game with the New York Jets.
Nwangwu had a 99-yard return touchdown, the fourth of his career. He also had a forced fumble on a Seattle kick return, which was recovered by Brandin Echols to set up a Jets touchdown drive.
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In the Jets’ press release for the award, Nwangwu spoke about how the kick return touchdown unfolded.
“The return happened just like we drew it up. I saw Irv [Charles] come down and kick out a defender. I read him, and then I went up toward the middle of the field. Someone almost tackled me, and then we were up the sideline. I slowed down to get a block and then got to the end zone and finally got to celebrate.”
Interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich also spoke about Nwangwu and the impact he has made on the Jets already.
“The practice habits were as good as I’ve ever seen. And for that to be a guy that’s never playing on Sundays, he went five, six weeks of not even stepping on the field, but the practice would have never told you that. The practice would have said, ‘Man, that guy is a starter.’ That guy is going to be out there every rep on Sunday, and he never wavered from that,” said Ulbrich.
It is impressive to see the special teamer make an instant impact, but it is not surprising. Nwangwu was a standout player on special teams for the Vikings and has the second-most return touchdowns among active players. He has blazing speed and great vision.
If Nwangwu can build upon his performance against the Seahawks, he could carve out a role in New York that extends beyond the five remaining games in the 2024 season.
