Tag: Jace Whittaker

WATCH: Commanders rookie DE Joshua Pryor blocks Cowboys’ field goal

Rookie Joshua Pryor taking advantage of his opportunities.

The Dallas Cowboys need a win over the Washington Commanders in Sunday’s regular-season finale to clinch the NFC East title and the No. 2 overall seed.

The Commanders need to lose in order to secure the No. 2 overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft.

Don’t tell the players on the field for Washington that it needs to lose.

After quarterback Sam Howell missed a wide-open Terry McLaurin for what would’ve been a touchdown, the Cowboys took possession of the football after Washington couldn’t convert on fourth down. Dallas drove the field for an easy touchdown to take a 7-0 lead.

On the first play of the next series, Commanders running Brian Robinson Jr. fumbled at the Washington 31-yard line. The Commanders defense holds, forcing a field goal attempt.

Dallas kicker Brandon Aubrey hadn’t missed a kick all season. However, Washington rookie defensive end Joshua Pryor busts through the line to block Aubrey’s field goal. Defensive back Jace Whittaker, signed from the practice squad on Saturday, picked up the ball and returned it 66 yards.

Here’s the play.

Washington would score its first point when Howell found Robinson on a short touchdown pass to tie the game.

Commanders make a roster move Saturday, adding another cornerback

The Commanders swapped an offensive lineman for a cornerback on Saturday.

After selecting Emmanuel Forbes and Quan Martin in the first two rounds of the 2023 NFL draft, the Washington Commanders feel great about the cornerback position.

Both rookies have gotten off to a strong start in training camp. However, during Friday’s practice, Forbes “tweaked” his groin. While Forbes said he was fine, and head coach Ron Rivera agreed, Rivera did say the Commanders would re-evaluate on Sunday. The Commanders had Sunday off.

In response to Forbes’ groin injury, the Commanders made a move on Saturday. Washington signed cornerback Jace Whittaker.

Whittaker, 28, spent the past three seasons with the Arizona Cardinals, going back and forth between the practice squad and the active roster. The 5-foot-11, 185-pound Whittaker played collegiately at Arizona and entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent with Arizona in 2020.

In three seasons, Whittaker has appeared in 12 games, with four starts, making 31 tackles, and defending three passes.

In a corresponding move, the Commanders released guard Keaton Sutherland. Sutherland, 26, signed with Washington’s practice squad last October and remained on the offseason roster.

Sutherland entered the NFL in 2019 as an undrafted free agent from Texas A&M. Sutherland has spent time with Cincinnati, Miami and San Francisco before arriving in Washington last year. He has appeared in six career games, with two starts.

Sutherland was far down on Washington’s offensive line depth chart.

Whittaker faces an uphill battle to make the 53-man roster, but he’ll have an opportunity to impress coaches in the preseason.

Browns workout former Cardinals cornerback with slot experience

Will the Browns add more players to compete in training camp?

On the eve of the 2023 NFL draft, the Cleveland Browns worked out some secondary help. Aaron Wilson was the first to report that Cleveland worked out former Cardinals defensive back Jace Whittaker. Whittaker hasn’t played a ton in his first three career seasons seeing his most career action in 2022.

Whittaker has some experience playing in the slot as well as some special teams snaps last season. Though he wouldn’t likely make the roster getting more players with experience in areas the team needs to improve on would be the smart thing to do for training camp. As Aaron Wilson also said no signing is imminent likely meaning nothing will happen before the draft.

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Cardinals non-tender CB Jace Whittaker

Whittaker was an exclusive rights free agent who would have returned if tendered an offer. He is an unrestricted free agent now.

NFL teams typically always tender their exclusive rights free agents qualifying tenders. They are young players without enough credited years to actually be free agents.

Their deals are not guaranteed and it doesn’t hurt the salary cap if the player is released.

The Arizona Cardinals non-tendered one of their exclusive rights free agents — cornerback Jace Whittaker.

According to the team site’s free agent tracker, Whittaker is listed as an unrestricted free agent, which means the team did not offer him a qualifying tender.

Whittaker entered the league in 2020 as an undrafted rookie out of the University of Arizona.

Hee has bounced between the practice squad and active roster all three seasons, playing mostly on special teams. He actually started four games last season.

He became a bit of a security blanket for previous defensive coordinator Vance Joseph because Whittaker knew the defense, knew the defensive calls and would put himself in the right places both as an outside and inside corner.

However, he doesn’t appear to have a place on this roster this year, not even on special teams.

He is now free to sign with any team. If there is a team to watch, it is the Denver Broncos, where Joseph is now defensive coordinator. Whittaker might find himself at least on the offseason roster in Denver.

He would be scheduled to make $1.01 million in 2023.

Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.

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Cardinals cutting WR Andre Baccellia, CB Jace Whittaker; want both back on practice squad

The Cardinals hope Whittaker and Baccellia both clear waivers so they can be brought back to the practice squad.

The Arizona Cardinals must trim their roster down to 53 players by Tuesday afternoon. They have begun the process of releasing players, having announced three player cuts already.

According to Pro Football Network’s Aaron Wilson, the Cardinals are cutting a pair of young players they hope to bring back to the practice squad.

They are releasing cornerback Jace Whittaker and receiver Andre Baccellia but have the plan to re-sign both to the practice squad if they clear waivers.

Whittaker has bounced between the practice squad and active roster for two seasons after signing with the Cardinals as an undrafted rookie out of Arizona. He played in four games in 2020 ans two last season as a practice squad elevation.

Head coach Kliff Kingsbury has said that Whittaker is a player they trust. He knows the defensive system, can play inside and out and is solid on special teams.

Baccellia signed with the team in 2021 and has yet to play in an NFL game.

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Cardinals protect 4 on practice squad, including 2 CBs, in Week 17

This week’s practice squad protections are OL Danny Isidora, CB Kevin Peterson, CB Jace Whittaker and P Ryan Winslow. Winslow has since been released.

The Arizona Cardinals have protected four players from their practice squad from being signed by other teams. One of them is no longer on the practice squad.

According to Tuesday’s NFL transaction report, the Cardinals protected the following players on the practice squad:

  • G Danny Isidora
  • CB Kevin Peterson
  • CB Jace Whittaker
  • P Ryan Winslow

All make sense. However, Winslow has since been released because Andy Lee, who was on the COVID list and missed the game against the Indianapolis Colts, was activated on Wednesday. So the protection of Winslow ends up being wasted.

Backup guard Sean Harlow was placed on the COVID list, so Isidora being protected is logical, especially if they need a lineman elevated if there are further injuries.

Peterson and Whittaker could both see action on Sunday. Rookie cornerback Marco Wilson injured his shoulder on Saturday against the Colts and Peterson, who was elevated to the active roster for the game, finished the game. Byron Murphy and Antonio Hamilton are the only two healthy cornerbacks on the active roster.

As things stand, both Peterson and Whittaker probably would be elevated for Sunday’s game against the Dallas Cowboys, as Peterson could start in place of Wilson and Whittaker would be needed on special teams because Hamilton and Peterson would be playing significant snaps on defense.

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Cardinals protect 2 CBs, 2 OL on practice squad in Week 14

The Cardinals protected Danny Isidora, Eric Smith, Jace Whittaker and Kevin Peterson in Week 14 so they can’t be signed by other teams.

The Arizona Cardinals, like all NFL teams, are able to designate four players on the practice squad each week as “protected,” meaning other teams cannot sign them to their active rosters.

This week, the Cardinals protected a pair of offensive linemen and a pair of cornerbacks.

According to Tuesday’s NFL transaction report, the Cardinals protected these four practice squad players:

  • OL Danny Isidora
  • OL Eric Smith
  • CB Kevin Peterson
  • CB Jace Whittaker

With these protections, it raises questions about the health of the depth on the offensive line. Peterson and Whittaker were both protected last week and Whittake was elevated to the active roster for the game but was made inactive.

Cornerback Byron Muprhy played through a foot injury.

Because the Cardinals play on Monday night, they will not practice until Thursday and that will be when they release their first injury report of the week.

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Cardinals protect four on practice squad for Week 13, including 2 CBs

With this week’s practice squad protections, it makes us wonder if there is an injury in the cornerback room for the Cardinals.

The Arizona Cardinals’ first injury report of the week for Week 13 does not come out until Wednesday afternoon, but they could be looking at some concern for their depth at cornerback.

Why?

The team protected four players on the practice squad this week and two of them are cornerbacks.

According to Tuesday’s NFL transaction report, the Cardinals protected these four players:

  • Long snapper Beau Brinkley
  • Linebacker Tahir Whitehead
  • Cornerback Jace Whittaker
  • Cornerback Kevin Peterson

Brinkley is a no-brainer, as he is the only long snapper on the roster. Whitehead was elevated in Week 11 and played special teams.

Whittaker has played on special teams this season when elevated. Peterson was elevated once but was not active.

But with two cornerbacks protected, it makes one wonder if there is an injury to the four active cornerbacks — Byron Murphy, Robert Alford, Marco Wilson, Antonio Hamilton. If Hamilton is hurt, they would need someone to fill his role on special teams.

If one of the three starters is hurt, Hamilton would slide into the playing rotation on defense and then his role would still need to be filled on special teams.

So we will keep an eye on the injury report to see if there is an extra reason to protect the cornerbacks this week.

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Kliff Kingsbury praises cornerbacks for play against 49ers

“Those guys competed their tails off and really helped us win that football game. You can’t say enough good things about them being ready to roll and prepared when their opportunity arose.”

The Arizona Cardinals did not have their two top cornerbacks on Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers. Byron Murphy and Marco Wilson both missed the game with rib injuries.

That meant the Cardinals had to test their depth with Robert Alford playing nearly every snap along with Antonio Hamilton and Jace Whittaker.

Head coach Kliff Kingsbury heaped praise on the group both after the game and again on Monday when he spoke to reporters.

“(I) was really, really proud of Jace Whittaker, Antonio Hamilton and even Rob Alford, who’s not a young guy, but has been a veteran with the most action he’s seen in over two years,” he said. “Those guys competed their tails off and really helped us win that football game. You can’t say enough good things about them being ready to roll and prepared when their opportunity arose.”

The Cardinals have not yet allowed a 100-yard receiver this season. They held 49ers receiver Deebo Samuel, who was leading the NFL in receiving yards, to only 58, and they did it with a 2020 undrafted rookie, a guy they signed off the streets a few weeks ago and someone who had not played a game in two seasons.

Against the Cleveland Browns this week, ideally the Cardinals can have back both Murphy and Wilson, or at least one of the two.

However, if not, then they will rely on these three scrappy competitors against in Week 6.

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Cardinals protect 4 on practice squad for Week 5

They choose to protect three defensive backs and an offensive lineman.

The Arizona Cardinals have protected four players on their practice squad in Week 5. NFL teams are able to keep up to four players from being signed by other teams each week.

This week, according to Tuesday’s NFL transaction report, the Cardinals protected these four players:

  • CB Luq Barcoo
  • OT Eric Smith
  • CB Jace Whittaker
  • S James Wiggins

Barcoo was recently signed to the practice squad after he was released last Thursday. With injuries to Byron Murphy and Antonio Hamilton, he might get called to duty this week.

Smith was elevated from the practice squad last week and played a pair of offensive snaps against the Los Angeles Rams. If Justin Murray and Kelvin Beachum don’t come back from injury this week, Smith could be elevated again.

Whittaker gives them special teams help and depth in the slot. If Hamilton can’t play this week, he likely will be the player they call up for the game,.

Wiggins has been protected for the second week in a row. He was drafted in the seventh round this year by the Cardinals.

With tight end Darrell Daniels landing on the COVID list on Wednesday, expect to see tight end Ross Travis elevated this week. He was not protected so he potentially could get signed by another team before that happens.

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