Tag: Eli Ankou

Bills place Eli Ankou on practice squad COVID-19 list

#Bills place Eli Ankou on practice squad COVID-19 list:

The Buffalo Bills placed one player on the team’s practice squad COVID-19 list on Tuesday.

Defensive tackle Elite Ankou was landed on the designation, per the NFL’s transaction wire.

Ankou has appeared in five games with the Bills in 2021. He has featured in their defensive line rotation on game day when called up from the taxi squad prior to game day.

Before last weekend’s wild-card meeting against the New England Patriots, Ankou was called up. However, he was inactive on game day.

In addition to Ankou being called up, linebacker Joe Giles-Harris was as well. Both did not play.

Ankou landing on the COVID-related designation hopefully will not mean the virus spreads around the team’s locker room this week. Buffalo faces the Kansas City Chiefs this upcoming weekend in the AFC divisional round.

If vaccinated for COVID-19, Ankou could be eligible to return by game day with a negative test result for the virus. Regardless, Ankou will likely not practice this week.

While Ankou is on the COVID list, Buffalo does have an open spot on their practice squad and could add a player to the taxi squad.

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Buffalo Bills add Eli Ankou to practice squad

#Bills add Eli Ankou to practice squad:

The Buffalo Bills have signed Eli Ankou to their practice squad.

The team announced that move on Tuesday.

Adding the defensive tackle to the taxi squad comes after a few related moves.

First, when the Bills (6-3) activated quarterback Mitchell Trubisky from the Reserve/COVID-19 list, the team also announced the release of Austin Prohel on Monday. With the receiver being let go, Ankou takes his spot on the PS.

While Trubisky left the COVID designation, Star Lotulelei has not. He landed on it on Sunday just prior to kickoff against the New York Jets.

Lotulelei might miss another game in Week 11 vs. the Indianapolis Colts because of that.

Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott beat around the bush when asked about Lotulelei’s status on Monday. It’s unclear if he will return.

The hope will be that he does.

Finally, further depth was needed on the D-line thanks to defensive tackle Justin Zimmer. He was placed on injured reserve and the Bills announced he needed season-ending knee surgery on Nov. 11.

Ankou signed with the Bills this past June and spent training camp in Buffalo.

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Titans make handful of moves on the practice squad

The Titans have reunited with Mekhi Sargent.

The Tennessee Titans made a handful of moves on the practice squad on Tuesday, adding two players and cutting three others.

Tennessee has signed running back Mekhi Sarget and defensive lineman Eli Ankou to the practice squad, while also releasing three others in defensive lineman Abdullah Anderson, linebacker Dylan Cole and center James Murray.

Sargent returns to Tennessee after being waived last week upon the activation of fellow back Darrynton Evans from Injured Reserve. He was a standout during training camp and the preseason but has seen just two snaps.

Ankou was originally an undrafted free agent signing out of UCLA by the Texans in 2017.

He has spent four seasons in the NFL, two with the Jacksonville Jaguars, and one apiece with the Cleveland Browns and Dallas Cowboys, appearing in 27 games (two starts).

In 2020, Ankou played in seven games (no starts) with the Cowboys and tallied five combined tackles (one solo).

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Falcons release defensive linemen Eli Ankou and Zac Dawe

The Atlanta Falcons have until 4:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday afternoon to reduce their roster down to 53 players.

The Atlanta Falcons have until 4:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday afternoon to reduce their roster down to 53 players, but it looks like the team is getting an early jump on things. As reported by ESPN’s Michael Rothstein, the Falcons have released defensive linemen Eli Ankou and Zac Dawe.

Expect the cuts to start coming in pretty quickly as the team still has 25 more to make in order to get down to 53 players.

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Falcons sign defensive lineman Eli Ankou

The Falcons cut their roster down to 85 players on Tuesday, but the team still had one open spot and used it to bring back Eli Ankou.

The Atlanta Falcons had to cut their roster down to a minimum of 85 players on Tuesday, but the team had one open spot and used it to bring back defensive lineman Eli Ankou.

Ankou, 27, originally signed with the Falcons back in March but was released a few weeks ago. He would go on to land with the Buffalo Bills for a short stint. After being cut by the Bills, Ankou now returns to Atlanta hoping to catch on this time. 

The former UCLA standout has appeared in 27 games (two starts), racking up 31 tackles (16 solo), 1.5 sacks and two quarterback hits.

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Report: Buffalo Bills sign DL Eli Ankou

DT Eli Ankou signs with Buffalo Bills.

The Bills have signed defensive lineman Eli Ankou on Monday, according to a report by WGR-550 radio:

Ankou, 27, went undrafted at the 2017 NFL draft and has bounced around the NFL since. The 6-foot-3, 325-pound lineman from UCLA started his career with the Texans, while also signing for the Jaguars, Browns, Colts, Cowboys and most recently the Falcons, who only just waived him on June 17 after signing him on May 17. Ankou previously met with the Bills before signing with the Falcons.

In 2017 and 2018, Ankou appeared in a combined 11 games for the Jags, notching 15 tackles, one for loss, and 1.5 sacks. In 2019 he suited up for the Browns and made two starts in nine games played.

Last November saw Ankou traded to the Cowboys by the Texans, who he did not appear in a game with. He also played in a depth role with the Cowboys, appearing in seven games.

With the Bills, Ankou would see an opportunity to earn playing time in more of a Star Lotulelei role in the middle of the Bills’ defensive line considering his background as a nose tackle.

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Cowboys place DT Antwaun Woods on IR, ending his 2020 season

The Cowboys added starting defensive tackle Antwaun Woods to the injured reserve on Saturday.

The Dallas Cowboys 2020 season is ending in a similar fashion to how it started, with a number of key injuries. Saturday, the club added two new defenders to the Injured Reserve, including starting defensive tackle Antwaun Woods (ankle).

Woods injured his ankle in the Week 15 win over San Francisco, and was ruled out for Week 16 earlier this week before he landed on the IR, ending his regular season.

Woods took to Twitter to confirm the bad news, and let his teammates know that they have his full support for the rest of the season.

 

The undrafted Woods has spent three of his four years with Dallas, and he started 32 games over those three seasons. The former Southern California Trojan has steadily improved during his time in Dallas, and is one of the teams most consistent run stuffers.

Woods is a restricted free agent in the offseason and the Cowboys could try to retain his services going forward based on a need for quality depth at the defensive tackle position. Woods is clearly one of the leaders and emotional catalysts on this Dallas roster. You may remember Woods defending the star from a Juju Smith-Schuster touchdown celebration earlier in the season, à la George Teague and Terrell Owens.

The Cowboys interior defensive line had already been ravaged by injuries, as Gerald McCoy was lost before the season started, and second-year prospect Trysten Hill showed promise before a season-ending injury; now Woods is the latest addition to that list. DT Dontari Poe was released from the club midseason after being one of the biggest free agent signings.

With Woods out, Dallas will turn to a defensive tackle rotation primarily consisting of Neville Gallimore, Justin Hamilton, and Eli Ankou. Defensive lineman Tyrone Crawford and Aldon Smith will also slide inside and see reps at the 3-technique spot, especially on obvious passing downs.

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News: Cowboys staff enters bubble, Colombo fired in NY, Emmitt’s salute to service

Also, the Cowboys get two off the Reserve/COVID list, and DeMarcus Lawrence promises a better showing than the team gave a month ago.

COVID-19 dominates the Cowboys’ headlines just days before their Week 11 trip to Minnesota. Just as two players come off the virus watch list, the Dallas coaching staff takes up residence in the posh hotel next to the team’s headquarters. This comes as the league announces that all teams will operate under stricter protocols for the rest of 2020. But those measures only help player and coach safety; now eight fans who have tested positive report that they had recently been in attendance at AT&T Stadium for Cowboys home games. Uncertain times indeed as the league heads into the home stretch of this surreal season.

On the field, DeMarcus Lawrence is promising better things than the team showed even last month. The Cowboys’ injury report shows only two players not participating in the Wednesday session, and Chidobe Awuzie is set to finally make his anticipated return to action. A former Cowboy gets his pink slip from Big Blue, a team icon reaches out to salute a retired serviceman, and there’s still a decent chance that the 2-7 Cowboys could be leading the NFC East in less than two weeks’ time. Here’s the News and Notes.

Report: Texans trade DT Eli Ankou to Cowboys for 7th round pick

The Houston Texans have traded defensive tackle Eli Ankou to the Dallas Cowboys for a 2021 NFL Draft seventh-round pick.

That didn’t take long.

The Houston Texans traded defensive tackle Eli Ankou to the Dallas Cowboys on Friday for a 2021 NFL Draft seventh-round pick, according to Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle. Ankou had spent 11 days with the Texans after they claimed him off waivers on Oct. 19.

When Cowboys chief operating officer Stephen Jones was on Dallas-Fort Worth 105.3 “The Fan” [KRLD-FM] Friday, he said the club wouldn’t rule out any moves ahead of the Nov. 3 trade deadline.

“I think we kind of made the moves that we were pleased with, and obviously the trade deadline is Tuesday,” Jones said. “We’re still — we got a few things in play. Overall, I think we did what we needed to do in our mind with Coach [Mike] McCarthy and Jerry [Jones] and Will [McClay] and felt like we did the right things there to help our team.”

The Texans add a draft pick that will be in the 200s overall, and not really helpful in terms of adding a quality player. However, the Texans could use the pick to pair with other selections to move up further in a draft where scouting will be very key, as the club lacks its first-round and second-round choices due to the trade for Laremy Tunsil at the end of the 2019 preseason.

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Report: Cowboys acquire DT Eli Ankou from Texans for 7th-round pick

The Cowboys have acquired some help along the defensive front.

The Dallas Cowboys saw two defensive linemen exit the arena this week, as they traded away Everson Griffen to the Detroit Lions and released Dontari Poe. The moves will allow several players to get more snaps to prove their worth but they did leave holes in the 53-man roster. On Friday, the front office went about filling some of that space, making a trade with the home-state Houston Texans.

Dallas traded a seventh-round selection to the Texans in exchange for defensive tackle Eli Ankou, according to Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle.

Ankou, 26, stands 6-foot-3 and weighs 325 pounds. The Canadian-born tackle has appeared in 20 games over the course of his career, all with Jacksonville and Cleveland, he’s yet to be active for Houston after they signed him off the Indianapolis Colts practice squad.

He has 1.5 career sacks, all in 2017 as a rookie with the Jaguars. The nose tackle appears to be a solid tackler, grading about 70 in each of his previous three seasons in that department with Pro Football Focus.

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