Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
The Vikings are getting healthier heading into the stretch run
The Minnesota Vikings are set to take on the New Orleans Saints on Sunday afternoon with Josh Dobbs getting his first start for the franchise.
Throughout the week, the injury report saw multiple names on it with significant starters in limbo for Sunday’s game.
The final injury report is out and the Vikings injury report is extensive.
The Saints promoted LB Ty Summers to their 53-man roster, opening a spot on their practice squad for recently-waived RB Kirk Merritt:
The New Orleans Saints continued to tweak their roster on Thursday ahead of Week 3’s kickoff with the Green Bay Packers on Sunday. Per the daily NFL transactions wire, the Saints have promoted linebacker Ty Summers from their practice squad to the 53-man roster, which opened a spot for recently-waived running back Kirk Merritt to return.
Summers primarily plays special teams. He initially signed with the Saints practice squad after roster cuts in August but was let go to facilitate other moves, and the team brought him back after linebacker Ryan Connelly (another specialist in covering punts and kickoffs) went down with an injury. He played the fifth-most snaps in the kicking game last week against the Carolina Panthers.
Coincidentally, Summers is a former Packers draft pick (selected in the seventh round out of TCU in 2019). The Saints signed him off the Jacksonville Jaguars practice squad late last year. He now joins Demario Davis, Pete Werner, Zack Baun, Nephi Sewell, and D’Marco Jackson on the 53-man roster. Jaylon Smith and Anfernee Orji are still on the practice squad.
Merritt, a former wide receiver who converted to running back last season, missed most of the summer with an injury and exclusively lined up at receiver on his handful of snaps in Week 1. He was inactive in Week 2 and waived, but cleared waivers to re-sign with the Saints practice squad. He joins Jordan Mims there with Tony Jones Jr. promoted to the 53-man roster with Jamaal Williams (who is managing an injury) and Kendre Miller.
So where does this leave the Saints in terms of numbers? They have now filled 52 of their 53 roster spots with all 16 spaces on the practice squad accounted for. Alvin Kamara is returning from his three-game suspension on Monday, Sept. 25, and the Saints will not have to waive anyone to make room for him. Barring more changes, of course. Stay tuned.
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The Saints are elevating practice squad running back Tony Jones Jr. again for Week 2, suggesting Kendre Miller will have to wait a little longer to make his debut:
The New Orleans Saints announced they are elevating practice squad running back Tony Jones Jr. again for Week 2’s game with the Carolina Panthers on Monday night, suggesting Kendre Miller will have to wait a little longer to make his debut.
Jones gained 5 yards on his sole rushing attempt in Week 1 but totaled just 7 snaps on offense in the game while playing behind Jamaal Williams. If Miller’s injured hamstring is going to keep him on the sidelines again this week, expect a similar workload for the veteran backup. Miller practiced on a limited basis and is officially questionable to play.
But this isn’t the only roster move the Saints are making at the last minute. They’ve also elevated practice squad linebacker Ty Summers after an injury took Ryan Connelly out of action; Summers re-signed with the Saints early last week. Connelly has been a core special teams player for New Orleans and played 21 of their 24 snaps in the kicking game last week prior to his injury, so look for Summers to fill in there. Summers carved out a role for himself in special teams late last season.
Saints’ 53-man roster and practice squad elevations for Week 2 at Panthers
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The Saints are bringing back linebacker Ty Summers on a one-year deal; the former TCU standout ended the 2022 season running with 5 of 6 special teams units:
Looks like the Saints are bringing back linebacker Ty Summers, per his Instagram account. They signed him off the Jaguars practice squad in Dec. 2022. pic.twitter.com/4X87u2CzcP
— John Sigler (@john_siglerr) March 16, 2023
The New Orleans Saints made a couple of splashy moves in free agency on Wednesday, so it makes sense that they’d close out a hard day’s work by re-signing one of their own. ESPN’s Katherine Terrell confirmed that the Saints are bringing back linebacker Ty Summers on a one-year deal, which he initially announced from his official Instagram account.
Summers was signed by the Saints off of the Jacksonville Jaguars practice squad in Dec. 2022 and quickly earned a role on the New Orleans special teams units. He played 55 snaps in the kicking game through the final three weeks of their season, getting on the field with five of the six special teams units — everything but the field goal kicking squad. He covered kick returns and kickoffs as well as punt returns and, and worked his way onto the field goal block team.
That’s impressive. They say the more you can do in the NFL, the longer your career may last. Summers is certainly willing to put in the work to prove that theory. He’s a former seventh round pick by the Green Bay Packers out of TCU, with rare athleticism (he posted a 9.71 Relative Athletic Score after timing the 40-yard dash in 4.51 seconds at 241 pounds, also completing the three-cone drill in 7 seconds flat and hitting key numbers in the broad and vertical jumps). If the Saints can coach him up, maybe he can help fill in for the departed Kaden Elliss later down the line. Elliss himself spent years on special teams before the Saints gave him a shot with the starting defense. Good luck, Summers.
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The Saints signed linebacker Ty Summers off the Jaguars practice squad and brought back Nephi Sewell to replenish the depth chart:
Hey, depth is important. The New Orleans Saints signed linebacker Ty Summers off the Jaguars practice squad and brought back Nephi Sewell to replenish the position group ahead of their three final games in the 2022 regular season. Summers is now on the Saints 53-man roster while Sewell has returned to their practice squad.
Here’s the state of the linebacker corps now:
As for Summers: the 26-year old is a fourth-year pro out of TCU, having initially started his career as a seventh-round draft pick for the Green Bay Packers in 2019. He was waived by Green Bay in August and spent his time since on the Jaguars practice squad. He’s appeared in 46 games, all with Green Bay, totaling 52 tackles (37 solo) and a pass breakup, figuring to get on the field in New Orleans on special teams.
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Ty Summers is headed to New Orleans and the Jaguars have already kicked the tires on a couple potential replacements for the practice squad.
The Jacksonville Jaguars have a couple practice squad spots to fill. The latest vacancy came when the New Orleans Saints added linebacker Ty Summers to their active roster Tuesday.
Summers, 26, was scooped up by the Jaguars on waivers after preseason when he didn’t make the Green Bay Packers’ final 53-man roster. Soon after, the Jaguars waived him too and re-signed him to the practice squad before Week 1.
While Summers has spent almost the entire season on the practice squad, the Jaguars activated him a few times and had him active for three regular season games. Summers handled special teams duties in games this season against the Philadelphia Eagles, Indianapolis Colts, and Tennessee Titans.
Now he’s headed to New Orleans after the Saints placed interior offensive lineman Cesar Ruiz on injured reserve and filled the hole with Summers.
The other open spot on the practice squad was the void left by cornerback Gregory Junior getting moved up to the active roster.
Jacksonville has already kicked the tires on a couple options to potentially add to the practice squad. On Monday, former Titans linebacker Olasunkanmi Adeniyi visited the Jaguars and on Tuesday, the team worked out veteran offensive tackle Bobby Massie.
K’Lavon Chaisson is back on the Jaguars’ active roster, two months after landing on IR.
Jacksonville Jaguars outside linebacker K’Lavon Chaisson is back on the team’s active roster after a stint on the team’s injured reserve.
On Saturday, the Jaguars announced the move, just over two weeks after Chaisson was designated to return. The 2020 first-round pick landed on the injured reserve in October due to a meniscus injury.
The Jaguars are in desperate need of some pass rushing help as they rank 30th in the NFL in sacks through the first 13 weeks of the season. Chaisson may not provide much relief, though, as the highly-touted draft prospect has managed only two sacks in 35 career games.
In four games earlier this season, Chaisson played only 31 defensive snaps and recorded three tackles with no quarterback hits.
Jacksonville had an open spot on the active roster after waiving running back Darrell Henderson on Friday. The team also announced that linebacker Ty Summers has been elevated from the practice squad with rookie Chad Muma set to miss the team’s Week 14 game against the Tennessee Titans.
The Jaguars made a few roster moves a day before a Week 4 game against the Eagles.
The Jacksonville Jaguars downgraded both outside linebacker K’Lavon Chaisson and offensive lineman Cole Van Lanen to out, and activated two players from the practice squad to fill their spots Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Former Chiefs offensive lineman Darryl Williams (not to be confused with former Panthers and Bills lineman Daryl Williams) and former Packers linebacker Ty Summers are now on the active roster and will travel with the team to Philadelphia.
Chaisson, a 2020 first-round pick, has seen his snaps on the Jaguars defense vanish almost entirely since the addition of No. 1 overall pick Travon Walker. Last week, he saw the field for just four defensive snaps and 12 on special teams. After not appearing on the injury report at all Wednesday and Thursday, Chaisson was added Friday with an ankle injury.
In 34 games with the Jaguars, Chaisson has two sacks.
Van Lanen, 24, was acquired in an August trade with the Packers and has appeared on eight special teams snaps and one offensive snap so far with the Jaguars.
Darryl Williams hasn’t played in a regular season NFL game and Summers predominantly contributed on special teams during three seasons in Green Bay, although he did make one start at linebacker in 2020.
Summers re-signed with the #Jaguars after initially being waived last Saturday.
With just six days between the Jacksonville Jaguars and their regular season kickoff, the team is redoubling its efforts to add as much talent to the roster as possible. On Monday afternoon they re-signed linebacker Ty Summers to their practice squad, bolstering their depth in the middle of the defense before their Week 1 matchup against the Washington Commanders.
Summers had been waived by the team last week as part of a series of moves that helped shape the Jaguars’ 53-man roster. He was originally acquired off waivers from the Green Bay Packers along with four other claims on August 31st. Jacksonville then elected to briefly part ways with Summers on Saturday before eventually negotiating his new deal today to cement his status as a practice squad member.
A seventh-round draft pick in 2019, Summers played his college ball at Texas Christian University, earning All-Big 12 honors of varying degrees from 2016-2018. He ran a 4.51 forty-yard dash at the combine, showcasing his elite speed at the linebacker position before eventually being selected with the 226th pick of the 2019 draft by the Packers.
After two seasons in Green Bay, he found himself in a key special teams role last year before being placed on injured reserve with a hamstring injury just before Christmas. The preseason and camp processes this August didn’t break his way with the Packers, and he was waived last Sunday as Green Bay trimmed their roster down to 53 players.
Jacksonville’s practice squad stands to benefit from Summers’ experience playing around an established coaching staff and a franchise as revered as the Packers as the Jaguars seek to rebuild in 2022. Though he isn’t likely to make the 53-man roster in the immediate future, injuries anywhere across the team’s special teams personnel could force Summers into action.
His journey to a spot on the Jaguars’ gameday roster will start this week in practice and could extend well into next year if the coaching staff likes what they see from him in team exercises.
Ty Summers’ time on the Jaguars’ active roster was incredibly short-lived
Ty Summers’ time on the Jacksonville Jaguars’ active roster was incredibly short-lived. On Saturday, Summers was waived by the team just three days after he was claimed off waivers.
Summers, 26, was a seventh-round pick for the Green Bay Packers in 2019 and spent the first three seasons of his career with the team. He largely contributed on special teams, but was called on to start one game in 2020 when linebacker Christian Kirksey went down with an injury.
After sliding down the depth chart in Green Bay, Summers was waived at the end of August and was claimed by the Jaguars on Wednesday.
If Summers clears waivers, he’d be a logical addition to the Jaguars’ practice squad.
Prior to his NFL career, Summers starred at TCU where he earned second-team All-Big 12 honors as a sophomore and All-Big 12 honorable mentions in his final two seasons. Summers was also a semifinalist for the Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year Award for his humanitarian work in the community.
