Tag: josh avery

Texans work out a pair of kickers and interior defensive linemen

The Houston Texans worked out two kickers and two interior defensive linemen on Monday.

The Houston Texans worked out four players on Monday, which included a pair of kickers in Michael Badgley and Joey Slye. In 34 career games, Badgley has made 52 field goals after joining the Los Angeles Chargers in 2018. Slye joined the Carolina Panthers in 2019 and recorded 54 career field goals.

The Texans will need a contingency plan at the position, with Ka’imi Fairbairn still dealing with a minor muscle injury ahead of their season opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday.

Fairbairn sustained the injury in warm-ups prior to the Texans’ final preseason game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. According to coach David Culley, the Texans held Fairbairn out of the 23-16 loss due to precautionary reasons. Safety Justin Reid replaced Fairbairn as the team’s kicker. However, Reid only handled kickoffs and did not attempt any point-afters or field goals.

In addition to Badgley and Slye, Houston also worked out defensive linemen Josh Avery and Miles Brown. Brown’s lone season in the NFL came in 2019 with the Arizona Cardinals when he recorded four combined tackles through nine games.

Avery signed with the Seattle Seahawks last season as an undrafted free agent from Southeast Missouri State, and was in training camp with the Green Bay Packers this season.

Packers release defensive lineman Josh Avery

The Packers made another roster move, releasing DL Josh Avery.

There was another move made on the Green Bay Packers’ path to 80 players by Tuesday’s deadline.

According to Matt Schneidman of The Athletic, the Packers released defensive lineman Josh Avery on Tuesday.

Avery, an undrafted free agent out of Southeast Missouri State in 2020, originally signed with the Packers on Aug. 4. He played 14 defensive snaps over two preseason games, including five snaps against the Jets on Saturday.

The Packers have at least seven players they really like along the defensive line, making Avery expendable at this point in the process.

The Packers must make one more roster move before Tuesday afternoon’s deadline.

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Lions worked out 3 players including 2 tight ends on Saturday

Former Jaguars TE Ben Koyack highlights 3 players who auditioned on Saturday

The Detroit Lions continued to search for potential roster additions on Saturday. The team held workout auditions for three players, including two tight ends.

Former Notre Dame standout Ben Koyack is the most notable name. A seventh-round pick by the Jaguars in 2016, Koyack has 25 receptions in 44 career NFL games, all with Jacksonville.

The other two players who tried out are TE Hunter Thedford and DT Josh Avery. Thedford is an undrafted rookie from Utah who also played collegiately at SMU. Avery is also an undrafted rookie who was previously with the Seattle Seahawks. He played in college for Southeast Missouri State.

Why Southeast Missouri’s Josh Avery could make Seahawks roster

Josh Avery has the size and maturity to make an impact for the Seattle Seahawks as a run-stuffing defensive tackle right away in 2020.

The Seattle Seahawks brought in a whopping 17 undrafted free agents from the 2020 class to compete for spots on the active roster.

Most years, teams are lucky to get one UDFA to make the squad, as they are primarily brought in to give the team extra bodies during training camp.

However, the Seahawks have had plenty of luck in the past, going all the way back to Dave Krieg and including Jermaine Kearse, Doug Baldwin and more recently, defensive tackle Poona Ford.

In fact, the Seahawks had an interior defensive tackle make the roster as an undrafted free agent two years in a row, as Ford was followed by Michigan’s Bryan Mone in 2019, who appeared in four games for the Seahawks.

If they are going to keep the streak of undrafted defensive tackles alive, hope will rest with either Cedrick Lattimore out of Iowa or Josh Avery out of Southeast Missouri.

While Lattimore went to a more notable school and posted good numbers, his size (six-foot-three, 295 pounds) is more suited to a five-tech in Pete Carroll’s defense, rather than a big run-stuffer in the middle, which is what the Seahawks need.

Avery is listed at six-foot-three and 322 pounds, plenty big enough to plug holes up the middle in a reserve role. Plus, Avery is already 24 years old, and the Seahawks made it clear they are looking for more mature rookies this season, in light of the pandemic that limits their opportunities to see players on the field before the season begins.

With Ford and Jarran Reed expected to start on the interior defensive line, Avery will compete with Lattimore, Mone, and Demarcus Christmas for the backup DT role, assuming the team doesn’t sign a veteran – something they have done in each of the past few seasons.

While it won’t be an easy path, it never is for undrafted free agents, Avery has the size and maturity to make an impact for the Seahawks in year one, and if he does well in training camp he could be a surprise addition to the roster, or at least the practice squad, in 2020.

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