Tag: Javon McKinley

Broncos tried out 4 players last week, including a quarterback

The Broncos tried out QB Joshua Dobbs and three wide receivers on Friday.

The Denver Broncos brought in three wide receivers and a quarterback for tryouts last week.

Javon McKinley (Notre Dame), Malik Taylor (Ferris State) and Connor Wedington (Stanford) tried out as receivers and Joshua Dobbs (Tennessee) took reps at quarterback, according to the NFL’s transaction wire. 

Dobbs (6-3, 216 pounds) entered the league with the Pittsburgh Steelers as a fourth-round pick in the 2017 NFL draft. After three years with the Steelers, he had a one-year stint with the Jacksonville Jaguars before returning to the Steelers in 2020. After spending the 2021 season on injured reserve, Dobbs signed with the Cleveland Browns earlier this year.

Dobbs served as a backup with the Browns this season while Deshaun Watson served his suspension after allegations of sexual assault and sexual misconduct. Cleveland waived Dobbs last week after Watson returned to the active roster.

Dobbs has appeared in six games in his career but is yet to start in a regular-season game. In relief appearances, he has completed 10-of-17 passes for 45 yards with no touchdowns and one interception. Dobbs has also rushed six times for 31 yards in the NFL.

Dobbs and the three receivers that tried out for Denver are likely being considered as end-of-season reserve/future contract candidates.

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Every Notre Dame player currently on an NFL training camp roster

Lots of former Irish talent in the NFL

Part of being an alumnus of a supremely successful collegiate football is seeing them getting an opportunity at the next level. For Notre Dame, the list of former players getting their shot in the NFL is large, very large. Find out below every former Irish star (in alphabetical order) and which NFL team they are with in training camp.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Mike on Twitter: @MikeFChen

A third former Notre Dame wide receiver joins Steelers

Here we go…

Some memorable former Notre Dame stars have won Super Bowls with arguably the most successful NFL franchise of the Super Bowl era, the Pittsburgh Steelers. To my knowledge, however, never have three former Notre Dame wide receivers been on the same NFL team simultaneously.

Until now.

The Steelers already employed former Notre Dame leading receiver [autotag]Chase Claypool[/autotag], who they drafted in the second round in 2020. This offseason, they signed former Notre Dame standout [autotag]Miles Boykin[/autotag] after he was released by the Baltimore Ravens.

Now Notre Dame’s leading receiver from the 2020 season that ended with a trip to the College Football Playoff has signed with the Steelers. [autotag]Javon McKinley[/autotag] is headed to Steel Town.

McKinley went undrafted in 2021 before signing as a free agent with the Detroit Lions. He spent the majority of last season on the Lions practice squad before being released this spring. To make room for McKinley, the Steelers waived defensive end Tyree Johnson.

McKinley hauled in 53 receptions during his time at Notre Dame, including 42 during that 2020 campaign.

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Lions waive two more players in advance of rookie minicamp

The Lions have now waived 8 players this week

The Detroit Lions entered NFL draft weekend with the most players under contract of any team two weeks ago. Now comes the process of trimming the roster to create room to add potential upgrades.

The Lions parted ways with two more players on Thursday morning, the dawn of the team’s rookie minicamp. Wide receiver Javon McKinley and safety Jalen Elliott were waived by Detroit, the team announced in a press release.

Both were undrafted free agent rookies in 2021. Elliott played in eight games and saw action on 92 defensive snaps. McKinley bounced between the waiver wire and practice squad all season, never appearing in a game.

Detroit has now waived eight players this week.

Lions sign 9 from the practice squad to reserve/future contracts

The Lions locked up nine of the players from their practice squad to reserve/future contracts on Monday

One of the first orders of business for NFL teams in the offseason is to handle the players who ended the season on the practice squad. Those players, who are not technically under contract to the team any longer, are free to do what they wish.

For the players the Detroit Lions and other teams wish to keep around to at least start the 2022 offseason, they can sign reserve/future contracts. They are effectively commitments by the team to bring the players back with a chance to compete for spots in the coming season.

The Lions locked up nine of the players from their practice squad to reserve/future contracts on Monday:

DE Eric Banks
LB Tavante Beckett
DE Bruce Hector
WR Javon McKinley
QB Steven Montez
CB Parnell Motley
OT Dan Skipper
CB Saivion Smith
TE Shane Zylstra

The Lions also activated OLB Austin Bryant from the reserve/COVID-19 list. Bryant missed the final two games.

Lions waive Tom Kennedy in series of post-bye roster moves

The Detroit Lions waived WR Tom Kennedy in a series of post-bye roster moves

The players returned to Allen Park for the first Detroit Lions practice since the team departed for the bye week. The commencement of post-bye football saw the Lions make some moves at the bottom of the roster.

Detroit announced it waived tight end Darren Fells and wide receiver Tom Kennedy from the active 53-man roster. Fells had asked for his release and the Lions granted the veteran’s wish.

Waiving Kennedy, who caught his first NFL reception in Detroit’s Week 6 loss to Cincinnati, is a little more surprising. The third-year pro has served as the top reserve slot receiver over the last few games and also offered some ability as a return man.

As anticipated, the Lions signed rookie Brock Wright from the practice squad to take Fells’ spot on the active roster. There is still one roster opening on the active roster. Detroit also created another opening on the practice squad by placing rookie WR Javon McKinley on the injured reserve/practice squad list.

Expect Kennedy to sign with the Lions on the practice squad once he clears waivers on Tuesday.

Lions continue to churn the practice squad, announce protected players

The Lions protected four players and brought back UDFA WR Javon McKinley

The more things change, the more they stay the same for the Detroit Lions and the team’s practice squad. Tuesday’s transactions proved the point.

The four practice players protected for Week 6 are the same that got protected last week, too:

Bruce Hector, DL

Jalen Elliott, S

Steven Montez, QB

Ryan Santoso, K

In addition to preventing those players from being signed off their practice squad, the Lions also brought back rookie WR Javon McKinley. It’s McKinley’s fourth time being signed to the practice squad in six weeks. The team released tight end Jared Pinkney from the practice squad to make room.

Lions place Frank Ragnow on I.R. in flurry of roster moves

Ragnow will miss at least 3 weeks with his toe injury

The Detroit Lions kept the NFL’s transaction wire busy on Wednesday morning with a series of roster moves. The most significant of the moves is placing Pro Bowl center Frank Ragnow on injured reserve with a toe injury suffered in the Week 4 loss to the Chicago Bears.

Ragnow will miss at least the next three weeks. He joins standout left tackle Taylor Decker on I.R., depriving the Lions of their top two offensive linemen.

In other active 53-man roster news, the Lions activated kicker Austin Seibert from the reserve/COVID-19 list and promoted OLB Jessie Lemonier from the practice squad. Lemonier takes the place of Romeo Okwara, who was placed on I.R. with a torn Achilles earlier this week.

Seibert missed the last two weeks after testing positive for COVID-19. Ryan Santoso filled in quite capably as a practice squad promotion for Weeks 3-4.

Detroit also tinkered with the practice squad, and yes it once again involves WR Javon McKinley. His on-again/off-again status is now off, with the Lions releasing the undrafted rookie from Notre Dame for the fourth time in five weeks. Detroit signed veteran OL Parker Ehinger and brought back OLB Rashod Berry to the practice squad.

Lions swap out recent practice squad moves

Javon McKinley is back again amongst the Lions’ practice squad moves

Monday’s transaction notification from the Detroit Lions required some careful reading. It was easy to do a double-take and wonder if they mistakenly sent out the same press release that they did over the weekend.

It wasn’t the same, alas. Monday’s practice squad moves were the exact opposite of the ones that went down on Saturday.

On Saturday, the Lions added long snapper Beau Brinkley and punter Lac Edwards to the practice squad and released wide receiver Javon McKinley and tight end Jared Pinkney. Monday’s move brought back McKinley and Pinkney and spelled the end for the brief tenures of Brinkley and Edwards.

The moves on Saturday were made as insurance against a COVID-19 situation. With regular kicker Austin Seibert out due to COVID, the Lions were careful to have backups at the ready. Now that they weren’t needed, the team moved on from the veteran specialists and brought back the two young receivers.

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Lions elevate K Ryan Santoso and shuffle the practice squad roster

The Lions made quite a few special teams moves on the practice squad after elevating Santoso, who can both punt and kick

Ryan Santoso’s wild ride in the 2021 season continues. The Lions elevated Santoso from the team’s practice squad for Sunday’s Week 3 battle with the Baltimore Ravens.

Detroit used the standard elevation for Santoso, who can also serve as a punter. Every team can elevate up to two players from the practice squad each week, though the Lions only elevated Santoso this week.

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Santoso was a member of the New York Giants through the first part of the offseason. The Giants traded the third-year pro to Carolina the day before the final preseason game. The Panthers subsequently cut Santoso after Week 1, when he was perfect in Carolina’s win over the Jets.

In Week 2, he was on the Tennessee Titans practice squad and inactive. The Lions snagged him to the Detroit practice squad after the Titans let him go after Week 2. Now he’s up on the active roster for the Lions in Week 3.

In other Lions practice squad movement, the team swapped in two new players and dropped two others.

Coming in:

Long snapper Beau Brinkley

Punter Lachlan Edwards (Lac)

No longer with the team:

Wide receiver Javon McKinley

Tight end Jared Pinkney

Brinkley and Edwards each tried out for the Lions on Friday, along with another long snapper. Brinkley, 31, was the long snapper for the Titans for the last nine seasons. Edwards was the punter for the New York Jets from 2016-2019 and led the NFL in both punts and punting yardage in 2019.