This Kansas City Chiefs defensive player turned ‘unbelievable day’ into an NFL award
Chiefs cornerback Mike Hughes turned an incredible Week 14 performance into a league award.
The NFL on Wednesday honored Hughes as the AFC Defensive Player of the Week following his efforts in the Chiefs’ 48-9 win on Sunday over the Las Vegas Raiders.
With L’Jarius Sneed inactive for personal reasons, Hughes started at right cornerback and made his presence felt on the Raiders’ first offensive play. He scooped up Josh Jacobs’ fumble and ran it back for a 23-yard touchdown. Hughes later forced two fumbles in the game and tallied a team-high nine tackles.
The 24-year-old Hughes is the first player in the NFL this season to force two fumbles and recover a fumble in the same game.
“(No.) 21 had an unbelievable day,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said.
Wednesday’s announcement marked Hughes’ first Defensive Player of the Week award, and he is the second Chiefs player to earn the recognition, following defensive lineman Chris Jones, who won in Week 11. Hughes became the first Chiefs cornerback to win the award since Marcus Peters did so in Week 17 of the 2017 season.
Hughes, in the final year of his rookie contract, joined the Chiefs this past offseason via a trade with the Minnesota Vikings. He entered the league as a first-round pick out of Central Florida with the Vikings in 2018.
