Tag: quincy roche

Vikings make move on practice squad

The Vikings fortified the pass rush after losing Vilain to the practice squad

The Minnesota Vikings announced they have signed OLB Quincy Roche to the practice squad. The move comes one day after OLB Luiji Vilain signed with the Carolina Panthers off of the Vikings practice squad.

Roche was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the sixth round (216th overall) of the 2021 NFL Draft. They released him shortly afterward and he spent the next two seasons with the New York Giants.

In playing 17 games with the Giants, Roche recorded 36 tackles, including five for loss, 2.5 sacks and a forced fumble.

With Marcus Davenport on injured reserve, adding an edge rusher for depth was important.

[lawrence-related id=85019,85020,85015,85012,84952,84866]

Dolphins work out 7 players on Tuesday

Miami worked out 7 before signing 1.

After the Miami Dolphins officially lost running back Darrynton Evans from their practice squad on Monday, they had an open spot that they needed to fill.

With that knowledge, the Dolphins held workouts on Tuesday that included seven players before they signed running back Jake Funk to their practice squad.

While they’ve already made the signing, it may be worth it to get familiar with those who Miami opted not to sign on Tuesday.

Titans hosted five players for workouts on Tuesday

The Titans worked out a total of five players on Tuesday, including their former RB Jonathan Ward.

The Tennessee Titans spent their non-practice day bringing in a handful of players for workouts, one of which was a familiar face.

According to the league’s transactions wire, the Titans worked out one of their former players in running back Jonathan Ward, which was first reported on Monday by Justin Melo of The Draft Network.

Ward was with the team in 2022, appearing in three games and totaling five carries for 25 yards while playing mostly on special teams.

Tennessee brought Ward back this offseason and he looked to have a good shot to make the initial 53-man roster as the team’s third back before suffering an injury in preseason Week 1.

The Titans are in the market for a running back with the team only having two on the active roster (Derrick Henry and Tyjae Spears) and one on the practice squad (Jacques Patrick).

Ward was just one of five players the Titans took a look at on Tuesday. Here’s the rest.

Giants sign two to 53-man roster in flurry of roster moves

The New York Giants made a series of rosters moves ahead of their Week 12 game, which included two signings, two releases and two elevations.

With a significant number of injuries entering a Thanksgiving Day game against the Dallas Cowboys, the New York Giants were forced to make a string of roster moves beforehand.

The team announced on Wednesday evening that they have signed offensive lineman Devery Hamilton and defensive back Trenton Thompson from the practice squad to the active roster.

Hamilton and Thompson help provide depth at two positions truly ravaged by injury. Four offensive line starters are out in Week 12 — four and a reserve if you include Ben Bredeson — and three members of the secondary, including safety Xavier McKinney. Two others (Dane Belton and Jason Pinnock) are questionable.

In order to clear space for Hamilton and Thompson on the 53-man roster, the Giants waived linebackers Austin Calitro and Quincy Roche.

The Giants also announced that defensive back Terrell Burgess and offensive lineman Korey Cunningham have been elevated from the practice squad, again adding depth at positions of need.

Linebacker/safety Landon Collins was once again passed over for elevation.

Follow the Giants Wire Podcast:
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts

Giants place Azeez Ojulari on IR, elevate Landon Collins

The New York Giants have placed LB Azeez Ojulari on IR and elevated S Landon Collins in a series of roster moves.

[sendtonews_embed video_id=”3DU1ww5VxP-2308998-7498″]

Earlier this week, New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll sounded a bit reluctant to elevate safety Landon Collins from the practice squad. After all, he has accumulated just a handful of practices in Wink Martindale’s defense.

“We’ll give him some more reps this week. Again, like I said, he just got here, so we’ll see how he is conditioning-wise. We’ll see how he does with picking up the defense,” Daboll told reporters. “He’s been great, I’m glad we have him. We’ll just see where he’s at.

“Again, I think putting someone out there early or when they’re not ready — and I’m not saying he is or he isn’t — but I think that you just got to be fair to the player and make sure that they feel comfortable with where they’re at.”

Plans on Collins likely changed with news that linebacker Azeez Ojulari has been placed on injured reserve with a calf issue. He will now miss a minimum of four games.

Fellow linebacker Oshane Ximines is also out on Sunday.

To help fill the void left by the Ojulari and Ximines injuries, the Giants signed linebacker Quincy Roche from their practice squad to the 53-man roster. They also elevated defensive lineman Ryder Anderson alongside the aforementioned Collins.

Follow the Giants Wire Podcast:
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts

Cardinals sign OL Max Garcia off Giants’ practice squad

The Arizona Cardinals have signed OL Max Garcia off of the New York Giants’ practice squad. Giants also elevated two players.

For the second time in a week, the New York Giants lost an offensive lineman off of their practice squad.

On Thursday, the New Orleans Saints plucked Wyatt Davis from the Giants and added him to their active roster. On Saturday, the Arizona Cardinals did the same thing with Max Garcia.

Garcia was a fourth-round pick (No. 133 overall) of the Denver Broncos in the 2015 NFL draft and played in all 16 games that season (starting five) for Denver’s Super Bowl 50 championship team. After four seasons in Colorado, Garcia spent three seasons with the Cardinals and now reunites with his former team.

Although he was on the practice squad, the Giants undoubtedly had plans for Garcia, who saw time at multiple positions this summer. But that’s the chance you take when putting quality veterans with experience on the practice squad.

Meanwhile, the Giants elevated safety Tony Jefferson and linebacker Quincy Roche from the reserve unit for Sunday’s game against the Tennessee Titans.

Jefferson was an expected elevation, while Roche’s presence seems to indicate that neither Kayvon Thibodeaux (knee) nor Azeez Ojulari (calf) will be able to play.

[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqbx61yex5whq8aq player_id=none image=https://giantswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]

[lawrence-related id=696908,696897,696813]

[listicle id=696905]

Giants trim roster to 53: A look at 5 surprising cuts

The New York Giants trimmed their roster down to 53 men on Tuesday and that required quite a few surprising cuts.

The New York Giants pared their roster down to 53 players on Tuesday to comply with the league mandate.

Here are some surprise cuts the team made in order to reach that number.

The Athletic names two Giants as second-year breakout candidates

The Athletic has pegged two members of the New York Giants as second-year breakout candidates and there’s one glaring omission.

New York Giants cornerback Aaron Robinson and edge rusher Quincy Roche have been identified as two second-year players who are ready to ‘break out’ in 2022 by The Athletic.

Roche was a sixth-round selection of the Pittsburgh Steelers last year who was waived during final cuts and picked up by the Giants. He played in 14 games for New York last season, starting three, recording five QB hits, five tackles for a loss, 2.5 sacks and a forced fumble.

He could turn into a sleeper. He’s a bouncy, nimble athlete on the edge, one who can change direction and retrack to the ball with a lot of speed and explosion. When he’s locked in, he can be a real problem against the run, as an edge-setter who’s just hard to move. However, he does get tired — it happened too much in 2021 — and that can limit his impact.

Still, there’s a lot to like here. Roche’s effort can be intense, and if he can find a way to keep that max energy longer, he’ll be a great addition up front. His situation is interesting, though. The Athletic’s Dan Duggan notes that he’s in a roster battle in New York, as the Giants also have talented young edge rushers in Azeez Ojulari and Kayvon Thibodeaux to think about (and they’re not going anywhere). If Roche can’t stick with New York, don’t be shocked if he shows up somewhere else and makes an impact. He can play.

Robinson, a third-round pick, missed the entire first half of the 2021 season with a foot injury but showed great strides as the season progressed.

Receivers have a really hard time separating from Robinson and beating him at the line of scrimmage. Robinson has good long speed, too, so he also challenges players who have second-level acceleration. He’s all-around fast and showed an ability to play without fear on an island last year as a rookie.

He got beat early in New York’s November win over the Eagles because he gave up on a route too soon, but Philadelphia went back at him repeatedly that game and never found success again. Robinson (6-0), ran stride-for-stride with speedy Jalen Reagor on a go-ball with the game on the line in the final minute to help the Giants preserve a win.

It’s not always perfect, though. Robinson can still get lost. He had some issues in coverage in a preseason game last week, in fact. There’s work to do here, but he’s still someone to keep an eye on.

The Athletic bypassed the Giants’ top two picks in last year’s draft — wide receiver Kadarius Toney and Azeez Ojulari. Most fans are eager to see them break out as well.

[pickup_prop id=”24935″]

[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqbx61yex5whq8aq player_id=none image=https://giantswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]

[lawrence-related id=695684,695681,695675]

[vertical-gallery id=663678]

Giants training camp: 10 takeaways from Day 7

The New York Giants wrapped up training camp practice No. 7 on Wednesday, and here are 10 quick takeaways.

The New York Giants returned to the field on Wednesday morning for their final practice ahead of Friday night’s “Fan Fest,” which will feature the Blue & White scrimmage game.

Head coach Brian Daboll once again took the podium to kick things off — a daily press conference he recently referred to as “Groundhog Day.” He recapped the prior today and outlined how the upcoming practice would be structured.

Here are 10 takeaways from Day 7 of training camp practice.

2022 Giants training camp preview: Linebackers

Wink Martindale will rely heavily on his New York Giants linebackers in 2022.

The New York Giants are entering a new era on defense with incoming coordinator Wink Martindale. The objective is to creatively find ways to get to the quarterback via pressure packages and blitzes.

All three levels of the defense will participate but it will the linebackers that the lead the way this year behind two new unit coaches — John Egorugwu (outside) and Drew Wilkins (inside).

Here’s a quick roundup of the linebackers heading into camp.