Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
How many of the 19 ex-Lions do you remember?
The new season the XFL kicks off this weekend. Fans tuning into the spring football league will recognize many of the names, including several former Lions.
There are ex-Lions dotting the rosters of the eight XFL teams. Many were only in Detroit for a quick stop, be it a training camp or draft pick or practice squad stint. But they still earned recognition as Detroit Lions at some point.
Here are the players in the XFL with Lions ties.
The Chargers did some retooling along the defensive line.
The Chargers made various roster moves on Wednesday.
Los Angeles placed Christian Covington on the Reserve/COVID-19 list. To fill the vacancy, the team signed Breiden Fehoko to the active roster. To replace Fehoko on the practice squad, L.A. signed Caraun Reid.
Covington joins Joey Bosa, Jerry Tillery, and Drue Tranquill on the COVID-19 list.
Fehoko has appeared in four games and has logged 18 defensive snaps this season.
Reid spent one season with the Bolts back in 2016, in which he logged five tackles, two tackles for loss, and a fumble recovery for a touchdown.
Since then, he has spent time with the Lions, Cowboys, Cardinals, Jaguars, and Titans.
The Titans have reunited with OLB John Simon.
The Tennessee Titans have added two players to their practice squad, including outside linebacker John Simon, who was with the team during training camp.
The move coincides with the Titans being thin at outside linebacker, as Bud Dupree hasn’t played the last two games, and Derick Roberson and Rashad Weaver are both on Injured Reserve.
Simon, 30, spent time with the Baltimore Ravens, Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts, and New England Patriots before signing with the Titans in July. He was with the team through the preseason before getting cut.
In eight seasons, Simon has played in 97 career games, including 52 starts, accumulating 21 sacks, 277 tackles, and 25 tackles for loss.
Simon played under Titans head coach Mike Vrabel at Ohio Stater. Vrabel was the linebackers coach in 2011 before shifting to the defensive line coach the following two seasons.
Last week, the Titans signed outside linebacker Sharif Finch to the practice squad. He was promoted to the active roster before the Jets game.
Caraun Reid comes to the organization as a former fifth-round pick of the Detroit Lions in 2014. The 6-foot-2, 292-pound defensive tackle spent three seasons in Detroit and one year with the then-San Diego Chargers, Dallas Cowboys, Arizona Cardinals, and most recently, the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Reid, 29, has 3.5 sacks and 55 combined tackles, including 11 for loss over 54 career games.
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The Panthers parted ways with S LaDarius Wiley, making him their sixth cut of the past 24 hours.
Even after sizing down the roster to Tuesday’s 80-man limit, the Carolina Panthers weren’t done chopping it up.
Per his agency, safety LaDarius Wiley has been released by the team. Wiley signed with the Panthers on Aug. 8 alongside defensive end Kendall Donnerson, who was also cut earlier today.
The undrafted free agent out of Vanderbilt University broke into the NFL on a deal with the Tennessee Titans back in 2019. After not seeing any regular season action over his two years there, the 6-foot-1, 210-pound defensive back joined the Seattle Seahawks for a brief stay this offseason before being released in June.
Wiley and Donnerson account for two of the six players Carolina has now departed with over the past day. They’ve also moved out wide receiver Krishawn Hogan, guard Marquel Harrell and defensive tackles Walter Palmore and Caraun Reid.
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The Panthers cut ties with DLs Kendall Donnerson and Caraun Reid on Tuesday morning, bringing them to the 80-man roster limit.
Despite having quite a bit of time left ahead of Tuesday’s roster cutdown deadline, the Carolina Panthers wasted almost none of it.
The team officially announced the departures of two more players this morning, defensive linemen Kendall Donnerson and Caraun Reid. As the Panthers prepare for their preseason finale against the Pittsburgh Steelers this Friday, they are now in the clear with the league-mandated 80-man roster limit.
Donnerson was initially signed back on Aug. 8. The 6-foot-3, 249-pound end was a seventh-round pick of the Green Bay Packers in 2018.
Reid, an eighth-year veteran, had come over to Carolina following stints with the Detroit Lions, the then-San Diego Chargers, the Dallas Cowboys, Arizona Cardinals and Jacksonville Jaguars.
The duo joins three other casualties from yesterday—wide receiver Krishawn Hogan, guard Marquel Harrell and defensive tackle Walter Palmore.
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To make room for Reid on the 90-man roster, the Panthers released second-year linebacker Chris Orr.
The Panthers have done some heavy remodeling to their interior defensive line rotation this offseason. After signing DaQuan Jones late in free agency and adding two more tackles in the draft, the team has also signed former Jaguars defensive tackle Caraun Reid.
A fifth-round pick by the Lions in the 2014 NFL draft, Reid (6-foot-2, 292 pounds) has jumped around a lot, playing for Detroit, Jacksonville, Arizona, Dallas and the Chargers. Reid has started 16 of his 54 career games and totaled 3.5 sacks, 11 quarterback hits and 11 tackles for a loss so far.
To make room for Reid on the 90-man roster, the Panthers released second-year linebacker Chris Orr.
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The Jags are now down on running back as cHRIS Thompson is headed to injured reserve.
After releasing him last week, the Jacksonville Jaguars brought back defensive tackle Caraun Reid to their practice squad on Tuesday. They also placed veteran running back Chris Thompson on injured reserve with a back injury.
The #Jaguars are bringing back DL Caraun Reid via practice squad. They also are placing RB Chris Thompson on IR.
— James Johnson (@SportsGrind_Don) November 17, 2020
The Jags cut Reid on Saturday with a series of roster moves to move various players up from practice squad and activate safety Andrew Wingard from injured reserve in preparation for the Green Bay Packers. He had previously spent three games on the active roster (Weeks 5-7), registering 47 snaps on defense and 17 on special teams.
As for Thompson, he sustained his back injury early in Sunday’s game against the Packers. It was revealed when he was taken out of the game to be evaluated for a concussion, however, he was cleared for that but didn’t return because of the back injury. Coach Doug Marrone informed the media that Thompson would be going on IR Monday, so the move was one that was expected.
Thompson will have to miss a minimum of three games now that he’s on injured reserve, which means he won’t be eligible to return until after the Jags’ Week 13 game against the Minnesota Vikings. With that being the case, the Jags are now down to Dare Ogunbowale as their No. 2 tailback behind James Robinson. Second-year layer Devine Ozigbo also could be ready to go Sunday as he will resume practicing after re-agitating a hamstring injury against the Houston Texans that he sustained early in the season.
The Jags also have rookie running back Nathan Cottrell on their practice squad if needed. He was a player the Jags activated Week 1 against the Indianapolis Colts, although he registered all of his snaps on special teams.
The Jags made several elevations from their practice squad in preparation for the Green Bay Packers.
The Jacksonville Jaguars made a wide variety of roster transactions Saturday in preparation for Sunday’s game against the Green Bay Packers. That included the elevation of four players from their practice squad.
With linebacker Dakota Allen and receiver Laviska Shenault Jr. being ruled out on the final injury report, the Jags utilized their two standard elevation spots on Joe Giles-Harris and Terry Godwin.
We have used the two practice squad standard elevation spots on LB Joe Giles-Harris and WR Terry Godwin. pic.twitter.com/GL4pIelcy5
— #DUUUVAL (@Jaguars) November 14, 2020
Giles-Harris has spent most of his Jags tenure on their practice squad after joining them last season as an undrafted free agent. In 2019, he was activated for five games, registering a bulk of his snaps on special teams. He also was active for the Jags’ last game against the Houston Texans where he registered more snaps on special teams.
As for Godwin, this will be his first activation from the practice squad since joining the Jags last season.
We have activated S Andrew Wingard to the active roster from the reserve/injured-designated to return list and K Chase McLaughlin from the exempt/commissioner permission list. pic.twitter.com/dDXwMuG1zF
— #DUUUVAL (@Jaguars) November 14, 2020
The Jaguars also decided to activate offensive lineman KC McDermott and safety Doug Middleton from their practice squad.
Sunday’s game will mark McDermott’s third time on the active roster as he participated in the Jags’ games against the Miami Dolphins and Cincinnati Bengals. He registered a few special teams snaps in the process but didn’t see the field for any offensive plays.
Middleton, on the other hand, will be participating in his fourth game of the season after playing in the Jags’ games against the Bengals, Los Angeles Chargers, and Houston Texans (Week 9).
Lastly, the Jags activated safety Andrew Wingard from injured reserve and kicker Chase McLaughlin from the commissioner’s permission list.
Wingard’s addition isn’t a surprise after he was designated to return from IR earlier in the week. He started in three games this season for the Jags before going on IR before Week 6’s game against the Detroit Lions and will return with 25 tackles and a pick to his name.
As for McLaughlin, he was signed to the roster earlier in the week to replace Josh Lambo, who is out for the season with a gluteus medius injury. McLaughlin, a second-year player, will come into his tenure with the Jags with a 78.3% field goal conversion rate (18-of-23) and a 100% extra point attempt rate (26-of-26). He previously spent time on the active rosters of the Indianapolis Colts, Los Angeles Chargers, and San Francisco 49ers.
The Jags’ final injury report for Week 5 has a lot of fans concerned, however, the team is getting some healthy bodies back from IR, too.
After both players were designated to return from injured reserve recently, the Jacksonville Jaguars have officially elevated linebacker Quincy Williams and Jarrod Wilson to their active roster.
Additionally, the team also utilized a standard elevation roster slot to elevate defensive lineman Caraun Reid from practice squad for Sunday’s game against the Houston Texans.
We have moved LB @quincywilliams_ and S Jarrod Wilson to the team’s 53-man roster from the reserve/injured-designated for return list.
We also utilized a practice squad standard elevation spot on DL Caraun Reid (@ChopReid). pic.twitter.com/cBUd1barlw
— #DUUUVAL (@Jaguars) October 10, 2020
The Jags’ transactions come after they had a lot of players on their injury report Friday, specifically on the defensive side. With that being the case, most expected them to make some elevations Saturday to prepare for an important divisional game against Houston.
Wilson’s addition is the biggest out of the three because the team will be getting back one of their initial starters in him. He was placed on IR after Week 1’s game against the Indianapolis Colts after sustaining a hamstring injury.
Williams was a player the Jags placed on IR before Week 1 as he sustained a core muscle injury during training camp and had to have surgery for it. He was one of the Jags’ 2019 third-round selections and ended up starting in eight games despite struggling at the weak-side linebacker position. That said, many are excited for his return to the field as he brings experience to the defense and could be a tremendous help on special teams.
Reid’s addition appears to be to give the Jags some depth on the defensive line. The team had defensive tackle Daniel Ekuale (ankle) surface on the final injury report as questionable, so Reid could be taking his spot in the lineup Sunday if needed.
Listen to the latest from Jags Wire’s own James Johnson and Phil Smith on their podcast “Bleav in the Jags.” Subscribe via Apple Podcasts and check out our archived episodes via Bleav Podcasts.
The Jags have names 15 players to their practice squad including veteran Mike Glennon and camp standout Terry Godwin.
The Jacksonville Jaguars named their initial 53-man roster Saturday and spent the remainder of the weekend filling their initial practice squad. On Monday they revealed that they had come to terms with 15 players for the unit, leaving just one slot available for their 16-man unit.
Those player’s names are as follows:
As many fans are aware, there were several rule changes made to the practice squad system this offseason because of the coronavirus pandemic. The new Collective Bargaining Agreement moved the maximum unit number up to 12 players, but that number was increased to 16 when the NFL realized the severity of COVID-19. The league also decided to allow a minimum of six veterans on the unit, giving teams more flexibility during final cuts.
As for their last remaining spot, it was reported that former Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Sidney Jones would be joining the unit. He confirmed his signing through his Instagram story feed and tagged Jacksonville as a destination in it. Regardless as to what the holdup is, fans shouldn’t expect him to be on the Jags’ practice squad long as they have four rookie corners on the roster in C.J. Henderson, Josiah Scott, Chris Claybrooks, and Luq Barcoo.
