The Buffalo Bills announced who the team has placed on the protected portion of their practice squad ahead of their Week 15 meeting with the Carolina Panthers. The names come to us via the NFL’s transaction wire.
In 2020, the NFL implemented a new rule to help NFL teams deal with the outbreak of COVID-19. With the virus still causing the league to have a variety of safety protocols in place to prevent outbreaks, the protected portion of the practice squad is back.
These players are not allowed to be signed by another team the rest of this week. After game day, all are then fair game to be signed until the Bills name their protected players from their practice squad for the ensuing game.
This week, the Bills are back to only using three of their four slots. Those are:
- DT Eli Ankou
- DB Josh Thomas
- DB Nick McCloud
Sometimes we can potentially connect some injury-related dots to these protections. This time, we can’t.
Rather, this week’s hint has to do with the COVID-19 list.
Prior to kickoff against the New England Patriots, linebacker AJ Klein was placed on Buffalo’s Reserve/COVID-19 list and he did not play. In a corresponding move, linebacker Joe Giles-Harris was called up from the practice squad.
This week, Giles-Harris has not been protected because Klein was activated off the list on Wednesday.
The reason for the Bills not using their fourth spot on the protected portion of the practice squad likely has to do with the quarterback room. Starting QB Josh Allen is day-to-day with a foot injury.
If Allen can not play vs. the Panthers, the Bills will likely then add practice squad QB Davis Webb to the protected portion so he can be Mitchell Trubisky’s backup.
For more reference on the protected portion of the practice squad, here is our explanation of it from last season when it was introduced:
Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic in the United States, the NFL’s owners and players came to an offseason agreement that we’ve seen the first installment of on Tuesday evening. Each team in the league can “protect” four players on their practice squad each week.
The idea is to provide some extra depth for teams in case of a COVID-19 outbreak in a locker room late in the week prior to a Sunday or Monday game. Those four can be called up to the active roster up until Sunday morning prior to kickoff every week.
[lawrence-related id=93262,93324,93266]