After starting 10 games and playing 818 defensive snaps last season, cornerback Noah Igbinoghene has played sparingly for the Washington Commanders in 2025. Entering Sunday’s game against the Detroit Lions, Igbinoghene had played 43 defensive snaps in seven games this season.
But injuries to cornerback Marshon Lattimore and wide receiver Luke McCaffrey got the former Hewitt-Trussville High School star more involved in Washington’s game-planning against the Lions.
Igbinoghene had four tackles this season before Sunday. Against Detroit, he made four for the Washington defense in a 44-22 loss to the Lions.
Igbinoghene also took over the Commanders’ kickoff-return job. He entered the game with five kickoff returns for 93 yards in his NFL career.
Against Detroit, Igbinoghene returned seven kickoffs for 191 yards, including a 46-yarder.
Igbinoghene came up 2 yards short of the most kickoff-return yards by an Auburn alumnus in an NFL game. On Dec. 22, 1991, Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Alex Wright returned six kickoffs for 193 yards in a 31-27 victory over the Atlanta Falcons. Wright’s big game included a 102-yard return for a touchdown.
Igbinoghene was among the 16 former Auburn players who got on the field on the 10th Sunday of the NFL’s 106th season.
Two other former Auburn players were involved in the Detroit-Washingtongame:
Jonathan Jones started at cornerback for the Commanders. Jones made four tackles and broke up one pass.
Lions safety Daniel Thomas (Lee-Montgomery) did not record any stats in his return from injured reserve. Thomas broke his arm in the third game of the season.
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In the other Sunday games:
Indianapolis Colts 31, Atlanta Falcons 25 (OT)
Braden Smith started at right offensive tackle for the Colts.
New Orleans Saints 17, Carolina Panthers 7
Derrick Brown started at defensive end for the Panthers. Brown led Carolina with nine tackles and recorded one tackle for loss.
Saints linebacker Eku Leota is on the practice squad and not eligible to play.
Chicago Bears 24, New York Giants 20
Darius Slayton started at wide receiver for the Giants. Slayton had four receptions for 89 yards. On the last play of the first quarter, Slayton caught a 31-yard pass from quarterback Jaxson Dart. On the first play of the second quarter, Slayton caught a 38-yard pass from Dart. Slayton got most of the yards in a six-play, 80-yard drive that ended with Dart’s 3-yard touchdown run as New York tied the score at 7-7 with 13:06 left in the first half.
Houston Texans 36, Jacksonville Jaguars 29
Texans defensive tackle Marlon Davidson (Greenville) is on the practice squad and not eligible to play.
Jaguars linebacker Jalen McLeod is on injured reserve and not eligible to play.
Jaguars offensive tackle Kilian Zierer is on the practice squad and not eligible to play.
Miami Dolphins 30, Buffalo Bills 13
Dolphins linebacker K.J. Britt (Oxford) did not record any stats.
Baltimore Ravens 27, Minnesota Vikings 19
Vikings linebacker Austin Keys did not record any stats.
Ravens defensive end Carl Lawson is on the practice squad and not eligible to play.
New York Jets 27, Cleveland Browns 20
Browns linebacker Eugene Asante is on the practice squad and not eligible to play.
Browns tight end Sal Cannella is on the practice squad and not eligible to play.
Jets defensive tackle Byron Cowart is on injured reserve and not eligible to play.
Jamien Sherwood started at linebacker for the Jets. Sherwood made six tackles and broke up one pass.
New England Patriots 28, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 23
Carlton Davis started at cornerback for the Patriots. Davis made five tackles against his original NFL team.
Jamel Dean started at cornerback for the Buccaneers. Dean made four tackles.
Buccaneers defensive tackle Jayson Jones (Calera) is on the practice squad and not eligible to play.
Seattle Seahawks 44, Arizona Cardinals 22
Seahawks linebacker Derick Hall made one tackle and registered one quarterback hit.
Cardinals inside linebacker Owen Pappoe did not record any stats.
Seahawks cornerback Nehemiah Pritchett (Jackson) made one tackle on defense, broke up two passes and had one tackle on special teams. Pritchett had one pass breakup in the first 18 games of his NFL career before Sunday.
Los Angeles Rams 42, San Francisco 49ers 26
Rams running back Jarquez Hunter was designated as a game-day inactive.
Rams cornerback Roger McCreary (Williamson) did not record any stats.
Los Angeles Chargers 25, Pittsburgh Steelers 10
Chargers long snapper Josh Harris made his 2025 debut after coming off injured reserve on Saturday. Harris handled the snaps for six punts, four field-goal attempts and two extra points.
Chargers wide receiver KeAndre Lambert-Smith was designated as a game-day inactive.
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Week 10 started on Thursday night, when the Denver Broncos defeated the Las Vegas Raiders 10-7.
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Week 10 concludes on Monday, when the Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers square off at 7:15 p.m. CDT at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin. ABC and ESPN will televise the game.
The 2025 season is the 12th that Mark Inabinett has covered players with Alabama football roots in the NFL. Inabinett’s byline appeared in a newspaper for the first time in 1976. The intervening years have…