Across The Shield: TreVeyon Henderson Scores Three Touchdowns, One-Handed Catch Highlights Another 100-Yard Game for Jaxon Smith-Njigba

Those two offensive playmakers highlighted the week in the NFL for former Ohio State players, which also included bad news for J.K. Dobbins and Justin Fields.

We recap the best and the worst of the week in Across The Shield, Eleven Warriors’ weekly recap of how former Ohio State players performed throughout the NFL.

Trey for Trey

TreVeyon Henderson followed up the first two-touchdown game of his NFL career with the first three-touchdown game of his NFL career.

Just four days after Henderson ran for 69- and 55-yard touchdowns against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Henderson led the New England Patriots to another victory on Thursday Night Football. He ran for 7-yard touchdowns on each of the Patriots’ first two drives and later added a 6-yard touchdown catch in the third quarter.

Henderson’s first touchdown run showed his strength and willpower, as he muscled his way through a pack of New York Jets defenders – with some help from his offensive linemen behind him – to drive his way across the goal line.

.@TreVeyonH4 WON'T GO DOWN

Prime Video pic.twitter.com/UuCUU9eDWY

— New England Patriots (@Patriots) November 14, 2025

Henderson showed his cutting ability on his second touchdown run, making a quick move left then another quick move right before exploding through a hole and running through an arm tackle into the end zone.

Two TD Trey @TreVeyonH4 | #NEPats

Prime Video pic.twitter.com/uvSCkcI0wZ

— New England Patriots (@Patriots) November 14, 2025

His third-quarter touchdown catch at the back of the end zone was his first receiving touchdown in the NFL.

THE TREYFECTA @TreVeyonH4

Prime Video pic.twitter.com/pCYLVNsQSL

— New England Patriots (@Patriots) November 14, 2025

Henderson, who finished the night with 62 rushing yards on 19 carries and 31 receiving yards on five catches, became just the second rookie in Patriots history to score three touchdowns in a game, joining future Pro Football Hall of Fame tight end Rob Gronkowski. He joined Gronkowski and two players who are already in the Pro Football Hall of Fame – Randy Moss and Curtis Martin – as Patriots to score five touchdowns in a two-game span.

With his third total touchdown of the game, @Patriots RB @TreVeyonH4 joined TE @RobGronkowski (11/14/10) as the only rookies in franchise history to record 3 TDs in a single game.#NEPats pic.twitter.com/w7jWsRKkFm

— Patriots Communications (@PatriotsComms) November 14, 2025

TreVeyon Henderson has joined the following Patriots players to score 5+ TD in a 2-game span of regular season wins in the Super Bowl era

Rob Gronkowski (2011)
HOF Randy Moss (2007)
HOF Curtis Martin (1996)#NEPats

— John Todd (@JohnToddNFL) November 14, 2025

In a game where former Ohio State players were involved in all five touchdowns scored – Justin Fields had a rushing touchdown and a passing touchdown for the Jets – Henderson’s scores made the difference as the Patriots earned a 27-14 win. And his high-scoring performance earned him our Pro Buck of the Week award as Ohio State’s top NFL performer of the week for the second week in a row.

One-handed catch highlights JSN’s seventh 100-yard game

Jaxon Smith-Njigba’s seventh 100-yard game of the season was highlighted by what might have been his best catch yet this year.

In a season that’s featured highlight-reel plays week in and week out from Smith-Njigba, the former Ohio State receiver made another one in Week 11, snagging a 28-yard deep ball with one hand and making it look effortless.

WHAT. A. CATCH. @jaxon_smith1

: @NFLonFOX pic.twitter.com/9tWjuHR3tv

— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) November 16, 2025

That was one of nine catches for Smith-Njigba on Sunday – tying his season-high – as he hit triple digits for the seventh time in just 10 games with 105 total yards. In the process, Smith-Njigba became the first player in NFL history with 75 or more receiving yards in all of his first 10 games of a season.

No stopping JSN. @jaxon_smith1 pic.twitter.com/XzXGqXhNYg

— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) November 16, 2025

Smith-Njigba is now up to 1,146 receiving yards this season – already a career-high with seven games left to play. At 114.6 receiving yards per game, Smith-Njigba is now slightly behind the pace needed to break Calvin Johnson’s single-season receiving record of 1,964 yards. But he holds a commanding lead for the NFL’s receiving crown this season with 238 more yards than Dallas Cowboys receiver George Pickens, who ranks second in the NFL with 908 yards this year.

Fields gets benched

Despite his touchdown run and pass in the Jets’ loss to the Patriots, Justin Fields won’t be New York’s starting quarterback moving forward.

Jets coach Aaron Glenn informed his team on Monday that Tyrod Taylor would replace Fields as the team’s starting quarterback, according to multiple reports. 

The Jets are making a quarterback change, benching Justin Fields in favor of veteran Tyrod Taylor, per source.

New York faces Baltimore in Week 12 and ranks last in the league in passing yards per game. pic.twitter.com/Hf7y5WCZGH

— Dianna Russini (@DMRussini) November 17, 2025

Fields’ benching comes after he threw for only 116 yards on 15 completions and 26 attempts against the Patriots. In nine games this season, Fields has completed 128 of 204 passing attempts for 1,259 yards and seven touchdowns with one interception, while running for 383 yards and four touchdowns.

The Jets rank last in the NFL with only 139.9 passing yards per game and are just 2-8 this season. As a result, Fields’ tenure as the Jets’ starting quarterback – barring another injury to Taylor, who was set to take over as the starter after the team’s 0-7 start until he suffered a bone bruise on his knee – appears to be over less than one season after he signed a two-year, $40 million contract with the team.

Fields’ former Ohio State and current Jets teammate, Jeremy Ruckert, said he felt responsible for not doing enough to help Fields succeed.

“It stinks to be a part of the ... I take it personal; all the hate, all the talking that goes towards him, I take it personal because I'm one of the guys that takes the field with him,” Ruckert said Monday while meeting with reporters. “And I wish we could do a better job to help him out. But he's just a true professional. Not going to change how I feel about him. I’m sure he’ll be ready to go when his time comes.”

Jeremy Ruckert was asked why it's been so tough for Justin Fields to get going in the Jets' offense:

"That's my guy. Not really sure the exact things, just I know how much he cares about us, how much he puts on the line every day. It stinks to be a part of the... I take it pic.twitter.com/1mBUDrF1kB

— Jets Videos (@snyjets) November 17, 2025

Dobbins likely out for season

J.K. Dobbins has been sidelined by a major injury for the third time in six NFL seasons.

The former Ohio State running back is likely to miss the rest of the season after undergoing surgery for a foot injury he suffered during the Denver Broncos’ Week 10 win over the Las Vegas Raiders. The injury occurred on what appeared to be a hip-drop tackle by Raiders defensive end Tyree Wilson, prompting an angry tweet by Dobbins about the tackle, which did not draw a penalty even though the hip-drop tackle is a foul in the NFL.

JK Dobbins -

1. Absolutely a hip drop @NFLOfficiating

2. Concern for Left Midfoot sprain plus possible high ankle. More worried about Midfoot though, which explains why he could play through rest of game (6 touches rest of game, all on last drive).
Similar to Bucky Irvings https://t.co/uh9HieMNJS pic.twitter.com/KndeW131HJ

— Jeff Mueller, PT, DPT (@jmthrivept) November 7, 2025

ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that Dobbins could potentially return if the Broncos make the Super Bowl, which won’t be played until Feb. 8. Short of that, however, Dobbins is expected to be sidelined for the rest of the year.

Injuries have been a recurring theme of Dobbins’ NFL career. He missed the entire 2021 season with a torn ACL, played in just eight games in 2022 while continuing to battle knee issues and tore his Achilles in the first game of the 2023 season. Dobbins looked to have put those injuries behind him and was on pace for a career year in his first season with the Broncos, running for 772 yards and four touchdowns on 153 carries in Denver’s first 10 games.

Now, Dobbins finds himself sidelined again, leaving his future uncertain as he’s on a one-year contract with the Broncos. But Dobbins is determined to bounce back once more.

For those who will count me out again Thank you. For those who are with me on this ride stick with me! You will love what God has planned next

— Jk dobbins (@Jkdobbins22) November 15, 2025

Howard activated by Steelers

The Pittsburgh Steelers added Will Howard to their active roster ahead of their Week 11 win over the Cincinnati Bengals after the former Ohio State quarterback spent the first 10 weeks of the season on injured reserve with a hand injury.

Howard was activated on Wednesday, the deadline for the Steelers to activate Howard from injured reserve after he returned to practice on Oct. 22. Had they not activated him on Wednesday, Howard would have spent the rest of the season on IR.

Howard was inactive against the Bengals as the Steelers’ third-string quarterback. His chances of seeing playing time this season increased, however, as Aaron Rodgers suffered a wrist injury against Cincinnati. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that Rodgers is believed to have a “slight break” in his non-throwing wrist; if Rodgers has to miss time, Howard would become Pittsburgh’s No. 2 quarterback behind Mason Rudolph.

Quick Hits

• Cody Simon recorded 12 tackles in his second start for the Arizona Cardinals, a 41-22 loss to the San Francisco 49ers.
• Malik Hooker returned after missing five games with a toe injury and recorded three tackles with a tackle for loss and a pass breakup in the Dallas Cowboys’ Monday Night Football win over the Las Vegas Raiders.
• Mike Hall Jr. recorded his first sack – and tackle – of the season in the Cleveland Browns’ loss to the Baltimore Ravens.
• The Buffalo Bills released Cameron Johnston, who suffered a foot injury in September, from injured reserve.
• The Houston Texans released Damon Arnette from their active roster.
• The Steelers released Trey Sermon from their 53-man roster, but added him back to their practice squad.
• The 49ers elevated Eli Apple from their practice squad, but he was inactive for Sunday’s game against the Cardinals.

Week 11 Stats

Week 11 and season stats for every Buckeye around the NFL can be found in the table below compiled by Eleven Warriors researcher Matt Gutridge. The table only includes players who have been on an active roster for at least one game this season and who finished their college careers at Ohio State.