Tag: Ryan Connelly

Saints activate LB Ryan Connelly from injured list, bring back RB Jordan Mims

The Saints activated linebacker Ryan Connelly from the injured list, also re-signing running back Jordan Mims to fill out their practice squad:

Reinforcements are on the way: the New Orleans Saints brought back a few familiar faces on Tuesday’s update to the daily NFL transactions wire, with linebacker Ryan Connelly activated from injured reserve and running back Jordan Mims re-signed after being waived last week; both players were added to the practice squad, which is now back at capacity. Tight end/fullback J.P. Holtz was released from the practice squad to facilitate these moves.

Connelly suffered a preseason knee injury and tried to play through it in the season opener with the Tennessee Titans, but that only aggravated the issue. He had to sit out the next six weeks while recovering. But he’s back now, and he should be in line for a role on special teams much like he was before. The Saints have relied on Zack Baun (162 snaps), D’Marco Jackson (161), Nephi Sewell (136), and Ty Summers (117) heavily in the kicking game, but Connelly was playing ahead of Sewell and Summers prior to his injury.

As for Mims: he only played a bit part while coming off the practice squad, but he did well on limited snaps. He got in on the opening tackle against the Houston Texans kick return in Week 6, his first play in the NFL, and the team clearly sees some things they can work with in him. For now he’ll be buried on the depth chart behind Alvin Kamara, Jamaal Williams, and Kendre Miller.

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Saints say special teams LB Ryan Connelly re-injured his knee

Saints head coach Dennis Allen says special teams linebacker Ryan Connelly re-injured his knee against the Titans. They’ll need more help covering punts and kickoffs:

Ryan Connelly can’t catch a break. The New Orleans Saints backup linebacker didn’t make the cut for a spot on the 53-man roster despite having played well in preseason both on defense and special teams, ultimately having to settle for the practice squad.

And when he got elevated for their Week 1 matchup with the Tennessee Titans, Connelly played almost every snap in the kicking game (21 of 24 reps) before going down with an injury that slowed him down earlier this summer. Saints head coach Dennis Allen shared an update on Connelly’s status after the game.

“Ryan Connelly probably is going to miss some time with that same knee that he had injured earlier,” Allen said, referencing the knee injury that the team feared could have required surgery and threatened Connelly’s season. Further exams revealed less damage than expected, but now he’s going back on the mend.

Because Connelly was on the practice squad, the Saints won’t have to designate him to injured reserve; instead, if this as severe as Allen’s comment suggests, he can be placed on the practice squad/injured list which functions the same way. It’s an approach the team used with wide receiver Lil’Jordan Humphrey back in 2020, sidelining him for more than two months.

So who could replace him? The Saints elevate different players from the practice squad each week (remember, each player may only be elevated three times before being signed to the 53-man roster) so they may approach things differently with less of an emphasis on special teams. But if the Saints do want someone else out there covering punts and kickoffs, it would make more sense to elevate rookie linebacker Anfernee Orji than his veteran teammate Jaylon Smith given Orji’s performance in that role during the preseason games. It’s not something Smith has shown he can do.

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Saints elevate two practice squad players for Week 1 kickoff vs. Titans

The Saints elevated two practice squad players for their Week 1 kickoff game with the Titans — including a veteran linebacker, but maybe not who you think:

A veteran linebacker has been called up from the New Orleans Saints practice squad for Week 1’s kickoff game with the Tennessee Titans, but it isn’t who you’re probably thinking of. The Saints declared linebacker Ryan Connelly and running back Tony Jones Jr. as their two allotted game-week standard elevations on Saturday, giving both pros a chance to play on Sunday.

Why Connelly and not Jaylon Smith, the former Pro Bowler and fan-favorite? Saints coach Dennis Allen has made it clear that a role on special teams will be required for any backup linebacker on the active roster, and that’s an area where Connelly shined over the summer with 32 snaps covering punts and kickoffs in two preseason games. Smith didn’t play a single snap in the kicking game in preseason. With Demario Davis and Pete Werner starting any of their backups must help out in the game’s third phase to justify a spot on the active roster.

That’s not to say Smith won’t find a role on this team sooner or later. If he can match Zack Baun’s productivity on the strong side he could climb the depth chart in a hurry, though most of his career thus far has been spent at middle linebacker. Fans may not see much of him unless Davis or Werner goes down with an injury. Hopefully he can find a way onto the field that doesn’t require that.

What about Jones? The Saints brought back their former backup after the Denver Broncos released him during roster cuts and he could play this week. Rookie running back Kendre Miller is questionable with a hamstring injury that’s kept him out of practice for two weeks and it might make more sense to rest him a little longer while having Jones and Kirk Merritt back up Jamaal Williams. The backfield is still missing Alvin Kamara, but Jones is someone the Saints have expressed confidence in as an experienced pro who knows what’s expected of him.

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Veteran LB Ryan Connelly returns to Saints practice after injury scare

Ryan Connelly was one of the stars of the Saints preseason, but an injury scare threatened his season. He recovered sooner than expected and is back on the practice squad:

Veteran linebacker Ryan Connelly was one of the stars of the New Orleans Saints preseason, but an injury scare threatened his season. He hurt his knee in the team’s second preseason game, which Saints head coach Dennis Allen described as a significant issue.

But he recovered sooner than expected and is back on the practice squad. Connelly worked out with his teammates at the Saints’ Wednesday practice session. Allen acknowledged Connelly’s swift return in his post-practice press conference with local media.

Allen said: “That’s part of the issue, is you start talking about injuries and there’s still a lot of evaluations and things of that nature that have to go through. It was obviously a lot better than we thought. He’s healthy, he was back out there practicing today.”

Connelly could be an important player for the team. He logged a ton of snaps in the kicking game and led the squad in tackles in their first preseason game, having taken most of the reps in Demario Davis’s spot at middle linebacker. He’s one of four linebackers on the practice squad right now, joining Jaylon Smith, Ty Summers, and undrafted rookie Anfernee Orji, but he could be a game-day elevation to reinforce the depth chart.

He first arrived in New Orleans on a reserve/future deal back in January, having spent the 2022 season on the Minnesota Vikings practice squad. The New York Giants drafted Connelly back in 2019 (in the fifth round) out of Wisconsin, where he was college teammates with linebacker Zack Baun and right tackle Ryan Ramczyk.

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Jaylon Smith leads the group of linebackers on Saints’ practice squad

Jaylon Smith is staying with the Saints on the practice squad. New Orleans has more linebackers than any other position on the practice squad | @southexclusives

The New Orleans Saints walked away from roster cuts with the same linebackers they walked into training camp with. Demario Davis and Pete Werner are your starting linebackers who will play every snap essentially. Nephi Sewell and D’Marco Jackson are their backups.

Sewell and Jackson were able to retain their roster spot due to defined roles on special teams. Zach Baun is also a key contributor on special teams. In addition to that, he also plays a few snaps per game on the strong side when the Saints play the traditional 4-3 defense.

Jaylon Smith leads the charge of linebackers on the practice squad. If a starter were to go down, Smith would be an instant call up to the main roster. He didn’t make the team because of a lack of role on special teams. He’s joined by three other linebackers on the Saints practice squad:

Saints fear ‘significant’ knee injury for preseason standout LB Ryan Connelly

The Saints fear a ‘significant’ knee injury for linebacker Ryan Connelly, one of their preseason standouts. More from Dennis Allen:

This is a really tough break for Ryan Connelly. He wasn’t at practice on Tuesday, and New Orleans Saints head coach Dennis Allen said it’s due to a knee injury that might sideline him for some time.

Allen said that the Saints will conduct further evaluations on the veteran linebacker’s injured knee, but cautioned that it “could be fairly significant” for Connelly. The former Wisconsin Badger was a college teammate of Ryan Racmzyk and Zack Baun, having spent time with the Minnesota Vikings and New York Giants before hitting his stride in New Orleans.

Connelly has been a standout player for the Saints through their first two preseason games, performing well on the second-team defense and playing a lot of snaps on special teams. He was well on his way to earning a roster spot further down the depth chart.

Hopefully his season isn’t in jeopardy, but Allen’s initial statement isn’t inspiring much confidence. We’ll watch for an update.

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57 days until Vikings season opener: Every player to wear No. 57

With 57 days remaining until the start of the 2023 regular season, we take a look at everyone who’s worn No. 57 for the Vikings.

It’s the final countdown…

Well, sort of.

The Minnesota Vikings will kick off their 2023 regular season in 57 days at home against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sept. 10.

From now until then, we will take a trip down memory lane and count each day by revisiting the players that have worn that specific jersey number.

Linebacker Ryan Connelly was the last player to wear No. 57 for the Minnesota Vikings, but Mike Merriweather and Dwayne Rudd headline the list.

With 57 days until kickoff, here’s a look at every player to wear No. 57 with the Vikings (via Pro Football Reference):

Vikings activate 2 from IR, elevate 2 others ahead of Week 18 vs. Bears

Both Smith Jr. and Bullard are officially back

The Minnesota Vikings have made a lot of roster moves over the past week and they continued that ahead on Sunday’s week 18 matchup against the Chicago Bears. As we had reported on Friday, the Vikings have officially activated both tight end Irv Smith Jr. and defensive end Jonathan Bullard.

Smith Jr. has been out since suffering a high ankle sprain against the Arizona Cardinals back in week eight. His addition will help the Vikings down the field and we could potentially see more 12 personnel to compensate for the season-ending Achilles injury to right tackle Brian O’Neill.

Bullard has been dealing with a bicep injury for most of the season and was on injured reserve for the last four weeks.

Along with both of those roster moves, the Vikings have elevated inside linebacker Ryan Connelly and center Kyle Hinton to the active roster for Sunday’s game against the Bears.

Connelly hasn’t seen any game action since being activated from the physically unable to perform list and Hinton has been elevated twice prior, dressing for only one game.

Viking add LB Ryan Connelly to the practice squad

The Vikings added Connelly to the practice squad just a day after waiving him

The Minnesota Vikings have made quite a few roster moves so far this week including both activating linebacker Ryan Connelly from the Physically Unable to Perform list and waiving him from the roster.

After suffering a torn ACL last December, Connelly needed some extra time to recover which landed him on the PUP list to begin with.

Despite the Vikings waiving him earlier this week, they added him back to the practice squad on Thursday night.

The Eden Prairie native spent time with the New York Giants after they selected him in the fifth round before joining the Vikings in September of 2020. He has played in nine games for the Vikings in mainly a special teams role.

With the Vikings current linebacker situation, expect Connelly to stay on the practice squad unless an injury occurs to a linebacker or a core special teams player.

Vikings officially sign Khyiris Tonga among four roster moves

The Vikings make four roster moves, including making the signing of Khyiris Tonga official

After news broke that the Vikings were going to sign former Chicago Bears seventh-round pick nose tackle Khyiris Tonga off the Atlanta Falcons practice squad, the Vikings made it official on Wednesday morning.

Along with the signing of Tonga, they officially made three other roster moves as well, including waiving linebacker Ryan Connelly who the Vikings just activated from the Physically Unable to Perform list on Tuesday.

Ryan Connelly was activated yesterday by the Vikings and they officially moved on from the fourth-year linebacker from Wisconsin.

Blake Proehl having his practice window activated gives the Vikings 21 days to make a decision on if they want to keep him on the roster. With Travis Toivonen being released from the practice squad, that is the likely spot for Proehl. However, the Vikings only have five wide receivers on the active roster so they could keep Proehl.

The Vikings bring back Mike Brown whom they signed as an undrafted free agent from Miami OH. They moved on from Brown during roster reductions this August and decided to bring him back with the injury to Lewis Cine.