Former UConn offensive tackle Will Beatty got the start at left tackle in last night's preseason game against Indianapolis in his first live game action since suffering a broken leg in the 2013 regular-season finale.

Courtesy of the transcript on the Giants official site, here are some thoughts from Beatty, who according to reports was in the game for about 10-12 snaps.

"I felt good out there, but I'd feel a lot better with a win. I felt like I had an average performance, but I don't want to be average. I want to be extraordinary."

In the same game former UConn DB Darius Butler had a nice play for the Colts resulting in a diving interception on an Eli Manning pass intended for Victor Cruz but one of his teammates was called for an illegal contact penalty wiping out the interception.

As for the game, former Syracuse quarterback Ryan Nassib led the Giants to a come from behind 27-26 win.

Shamar Stephen, the first UConn player taken in May's NFL draft, continues to impress for the Minnesota Vikings. The seventh-round pick received work with the starters and recorded three tackles in a 30-28 win over Arizona.

As for some of the other former Huskies in action last night, Danny Lansanah had two tackles in Tampa Bay's 20-14 loss to Miami and Kashif Moore had a 12-yard catch in Pittsburgh's 19-16 win over Buffalo while Lawrence Wilson had a tackle in the St. Louis Rams' 21-7 loss to Green Bay.

MAJOR HONOR FOR JENNINGS
Former UConn defensive end Teddy Jennings was named to the All-Arena Football League first team after finishing his rookie season with a team-leading 11 sacks for the Philadelphia Soul.

Jennings recorded 5 1/2 sacks in back to back games against Iowa and Orlando. He finished fourth in the league in sacks and seventh with 11 1/2 tackles for loss despite missing three games.

Jennings and Portland defensive back Varmah Sonie, who had nine interceptions, were the only rookies selected to the AFL defensive first team.

It's been a pretty lucrative offseason for some former UConn stars and other state products.

                                                                                       (Associated Press photo)
Former UConn offensive lineman Donald Thomas will go from protecting
future Hall of Fame QB Tom Brady to doing the same for Andrew Luck

Robert McClain earned a bonus of $269,000 for his play with the Atlanta Falcons while Darius Butler was re-signed by Indianapolis.

Former Norwich Free Academy star Matt Shaughnessy and Windsor's Terrance Knighton signed with Arizona and Denver respectively. Shaughnessy signed for one year and Knighton for two years so bigger pay days could be ahead.

However, nobody did better for themselves during this free-agency period than former UConn offensive lineman Donald Thomas.

Thomas, signed a four year contract with $14 million with Indianapolis. It's been quite the ride for Thomas who did not appear in a game in the NFL during the 2010 season and started just one game with the New England Patriots in 2011. However, Thomas opened some eyes with his solid play when injuries led him to start seven games with the New England Patriots last season. Register columnist Chip Malafronte, my predecessor at the UConn football beat writer, spoke to Thomas for his Sunday column.

"It was all a new situation for me. I’ve never been that guy before,” Thomas said  “I feel blessed.

"I was given an opportunity this year and I capitalized on it. I knew I could still play, I just needed a genuine shot. New England gave me that shot. It was a battle for me in training camp just to make the roster.”

Thomas becomes the latest former Husky to join the Colts as Donald Brown, Butler and Scott Lutrus are other former UConn stars on the Colts' active roster. Fellow UConn products Greg Lloyd and Kashif Moore also spent time with the Colts in 2012. Lloyd was acquired in a trade with Philadelphia but did not make the opening-day roster while Moore was picked up by the Colts after Moore was cut by Cincinnati and spent time on the Colts practice squad.

I reached out to the Colts in September thinking that all the former Huskies being signed by the team would make an interesting story and/or blog but the only response I got was "I have not responded to this. Thanks."

There are reports that the Houston Texans have signed former UConn receiver Kashif Moore to their practice squad.

Moore, who originally signed with the Cincinnati Bengals as an undrafted rookie free agent, is on his fourth franchise in less than a year as he was on the practice squads of the Indianapolis Colts and San Diego Chargers as well. He caught two passes for 20 yards and had one rushing attempt for three yards while playing in four preseason games.

Darius Butler is the first of the three former UConn players to have a chance of seeing action in the NFL playoffs when the Indianapolis Colts play at Baltimore tomorrow at 1 p.m.

Butler, a cornerback, was originally drafted by the New England Patriots in 2009. After playing two seasons with the Patriots, he spent last year with the Carolina Panthers before being let go on Aug. 31. Butler was signed by Indianapolis on Sep. 25 and played 11 games for the Colts. Butler has 31 tackles and four interceptions for the Colts. Indianapolis also has two former Huskies on injured reserve. Running back Donald Brown ran for 417 yards in 10 games while linebacker Scott Lutrus was put on the IR in the preseason. Former UConn stars Kashif Moore and Greg Lloyd also spent time on Indianapolis' practice squad this season.

The other two UConn products on playoff teams will have to wait a week to get onto the field.

Donald Thomas, an offensive guard who played in all 16 games and started seven games, is another player who benefited from a change of scenery. Thomas started 13 games during the 2009 and 2010 seasons with the Miami Dolphins. He is in his second season with the Patriots and played a key role in allowing the Patriots to overcome a string of injuries on the offensive line. The Patriots are the second seed in the AFC and will host the highest remaining seed which emerges from this weekend's action on Jan. 13.

Cornerback Robert McClain of the Atlanta Falcons has been one of the biggest surprises of the NFL season. Like Thomas and Butler, he was given an opportunity to play due to injuries to established players.

McClain, who played 16 games for the Carolina Panthers in 2010, was an under the radar offseason signing by the Falcons and he has 61 tackles and an interception this season for Atlanta.

The Falcons are the top seed in the NFC and will host the lowest remaining NFC seed on Jan. 13 at 1 p.m.

Here is a breakdown on how the other UConn products fared this season (not including players on practice squads):

OT Will Beatty, New York Giants: Played 16 games and had 15 starts for Giants
S Tyvon Branch, Oakland: Had 94 tackles and an interception while starting 14 games
WR Marcus Easley: Did not have a reception in three games although he did return two kickoffs for 75 yards
QB Dan Orlovsky, Tampa Bay: Was 4 of 7 for 41 yards in 41-0 loss to New Orleans in only appearance
DT Kendall Reyes, San Diego: Had 28 tackles in 16 games and 3.5 of his 5.5 sacks came in win over New York Jets.
FB Anthony Sherman, Arizona: Played 13 games with four starts. Had no carries but had five receptions for 39 yards
RB Jordan Todman, Jacksonville: Had three rushes for eight yards and one catch for no yards in only game against New York Jets

Former UConn wide receiver Kashif Moore has been signed to the practice squad by the San Diego Chargers today.

It was one of a flurry of moves by the Chargers who also signed receiver Danario Alexander, placed kicker Nate Kaeding on injured reserve and released receiver Marques Clark from the practice squad.

Moore was signed as an undrafted rookie free agent by the Cincinnati Bengals and had one catch for five yards in a preseason game against the New York Jets and in the second week of the preseason Moore had three yards on one rushing attempt against Atlanta.

After being cut by the Bengals, he was picked up by Indianapolis and ironically played against the Bengals in the preseason finale and had a 15-yard reception/

Little by little word is coming out about players being named to NFL practice squads. So far I have seen reports that the WR Marcus Easley (Buffalo), WR Kashif Moore (Indianapolis) and RB Jordan Todman (Minnesota) have been signed to the practice squads of the teams which cut them yesterday.

Post practice updates...

• The injuries to Lindsey Witten and Mike Hicks aren't believed to be serious. Edsall expects them both to be back by Saturday. Receiver Kashif Moore didn't practice as a precaution with a tweaked hamstring. Erik Kuraczea is back at practice after having "his bell rung" last week.

• Kijuan Dabney was hurt during a blitz drill Wednesday. His status is unknown, pending more examinations, but in the meantime David Kenney has been moved up from defensive back to back-up Husky position. He'll remain there as long as Dabney is out.

• Michael Smith's grandmother passed, and he left campus to attend her funeral.

• Linebacker Jerome Williams suffered a burst appendix earlier in the summer, and underwent a difficult surgery that was touch and go. He is slowly working his way back, and will be limited much of this fall.

• Those who were at practice got to see how exciting a player Dwayne Difton really is; the rest of you will be pleasantly surprised this season. Difton evoked images of Donald Brown by stiff-arming Jasper Howard to the turf on one play. Howard got up and drilled Difton, who was already out of bounds, with Difton laughing at his "big brother". Howard has taken Difton, a fellow south Floridian, under his wing, and the two have become close. "It's the same thing Darius Butler did with me," Howard said. "I want to make him feel at home." Still, the pair like to go at it in practices. Howard has been impressed with Difton's ability. "Whatever he was, 4-star, 5-star, he's living up to the billing," Howard said. "He's doing a tremendous job."

• I, for one, keep forgetting Howard isn't a captain. He's such a natural leader, and has really been working with many of the younger players, not just Difton. He also wants to keep the UConn cornerback tradition of heading to the NFL alive. Bigger and stronger this fall, Howard also seems faster. "I can't slack off," Howard said, speaking about leadership as well as pro aspirations. "Tyvon did it, Darius did it. It's up to me and Reggie."

• There was a full referee crew on hand for today's practice, and if I didn't know better I swear the umpire was Tom Morello, the guitarist from Rage Against the Machine. Could have been his twin brother.


Bulls, err...Huskies on parade?



• Michael Box and Cody Endres got more action this afternoon simply because it was the second session of the day, so Zach Frazer got a bit of a break. Both looked good, Box in particular. He seems to be a heady player with lots of potential.

• Netflixed Iron Maiden: Flight 666 last night (which I watched by myself...the wife isn't as enamoured with 80s metal as I am). Great documentary. Iron Maiden is truly a global band, drawing crowds in excess of 100,000 for concerts in places like India, Costa Rica, Mexico and Columbia. In Brazil and Argentina, the band is revered as true rock gods. They were greeted by tens of thousands of fans both at the airport and hotel...incredible. The coolest part is lead singer Bruce Dickinson is also a commercial airline pilot, and personally flies the group and their entire road crew and equipment on a customized 757, known as Ed Force One. Worth watching if you're into that kind of thing. If not, I'll stop now.

Two .... minutes....to touch down...