Safety Marques Anderson of the Green Bay Packers, wide receiver Andre' Davis of the Cleveland Browns, safety Will Demps of the Baltimore Ravens, running back T.J. Duckett of the Atlanta Falcons and quarterback Joey Harrington of the Detroit Lions are the finalists for Pepsi NFL Rookie Of The Week honors for games played on October 20-21, the NFL announced Tuesday.
Fans can vote for one of these five players on NFL.com from Tuesday morning through Wednesday afternoon to determine the Pepsi NFL Rookie Of The Week. The Pepsi NFL Rookie Of The Week will be announced Thursday on NFL.com. It is the first weekly NFL honor to be selected solely by NFL fans.
After the regular season, five players will be nominated for Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Year honors. Fans can vote for the winner on NFL.com throughout the month of January. The winner will be announced at a press conference at Super Bowl XXXVII in San Diego.
A closer look at the finalists:
- Green Bay's Marques Anderson recorded nine tackles and two passes defensed in the Packers' 30-9 win over Washington. Anderson has now recorded 21 tackles in the past two games, his first two NFL starts, and leads Green Bay in stops over that span.
- Cleveland's Andre' Davis scored on a 95-yard kickoff return and caught one pass for three yards in the Browns' 34-17 win over Houston. Davis is the first Browns' rookie to return a kickoff for a touchdown since Carl Ward returned a kick 104 yards for a score in 1967.
- Baltimore's Will Demps, an un-drafted rookie, had eight tackles, two passes defensed and an interception in the Ravens' 17-10 win over Jacksonville. Demps' interception, the first of his career, was the final play of the game with Jacksonville at the Baltimore 25-yard line. His interception ended what would have been the Jaguars' game-tying drive.
- Atlanta's T.J. Duckett rushed for 47 yards, two touchdowns and caught one pass for nine yards in the Falcons' 30-0 win over Carolina. Duckett's two scores, the first two of his career, were the first touchdowns the Falcons scored in the game.
- Detroit's Joey Harrington threw for 199 yards and rushed for seven more yards in the Lions' 23-20 overtime win over their NFC North division rival Chicago. With the Lions trailing 20-17 with 2:21 remaining in the game, Harrington led Detroit to the Chicago six-yard line, setting up a 24-yard field goal to push the game into overtime. Harrington, who recorded his first fourth-quarter come-from-behind victory, completed five consecutive passes for 73 yards during the game-tying drive.
This is Pepsi's first year as the official soft drink sponsor of the NFL.
