Tag: Will Holden

Browns make handful of practice squad moves after Deshaun Watson officially activated

The Browns continue to tinker with their practice squad, making three moves and potentially preparing for a fourth on their reserve unit.

The big news from a day ago surrounding the Cleveland Browns was the official reinstating and activation of quarterback Deshaun Watson. After serving his 11-game suspension, Watson is set to start against his former team as the Browns take on the Houston Texans this Sunday.

However, the Browns also made three practice squad moves. These reserve moves are extremely non-consequential, so too much time does not need to be spent on them. However, by placing one player on Injured Reserve, releasing one player from the practice squad, and signing a third player, the Browns were busy churning the bottom of their roster.

We take a look at those moves here.

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Browns add S Bubba Bolden, OT Will Holden to their practice squad

The Browns have signed two new faces to their practice squad.

Placing center Ethan Pocic on Injured Reserve and signing center Greg Mancz were not the only roster moves the Cleveland Browns have made today. After releasing Jordan Meredith from the practice squad yesterday, the Browns have now signed safety Bubba Bolden and offensive tackle Will Holden to their reserves.

Both of these players were in attendance at the latest tryouts held by the Browns last week. This makes four players the Browns have signed to their practice squad from tryouts.

The Browns get set to take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at home this week, as quarterback Jacoby Brissett prepares for his last start of the season.

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Browns bring in 6 for tryouts including Bubba Bolden, Antoine Brooks

The Browns continue on their weekly trend of holding tryouts near the end of the week. This time they brought in six players for workouts.

As the Cleveland Browns continue to prepare for a tough matchup with the Buffalo Bills in Detroit, they have brought in six players for tryouts. This has been common practice for the Browns this season, as they have seemingly held workouts consistently.

The Browns have even signed two players to their practice squad from these tryouts in safety Mike Brown and wide receiver Cyril Grayson (even though Grayson has already been released from the practice squad). This makes it worth getting to know the players the Browns have brought into Berea.

Here are the six players the Browns worked out today.

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Giants activate CB Rodarius Williams, sign DL Henry Mondeaux off practice squad

The New York Giants have activated CB Rodarius Williams off of IR and signed DL Henry Mondeaux to the active roster in a series of moves.

The New York Giants made a series of roster moves on Monday, which included adding several defensive reinforcements.

Cornerback Rodarius Williams, the team’s 2021 sixth-round pick, was activated off of injured reserve. He suffered a torn ACL in Week 6 of last season and opened the current season on IR. He rejoins a thin group that consists of Adoree’ Jackson, Fabian Moreau, Cor’Dale Flott and Darnay Holmes.

In addition to activating Williams, the Giants also signed defensive lineman Henry Mondeaux off of their practice squad.

Mondeaux has appeared in three games this season, all as a practice squad elevation, recording five tackles (one for a loss). He will replace Nick Williams, who landed on IR last week with a biceps injury.

In order to clear two spots on the 53-man roster, the Giants released offensive tackle Devery Hamilton and defensive back Justin Layne. Hamilton became expendable due to the recent returns of Nick Gates and Matt Peart, and the pending return of Shane Lemieux.

Finally, the Giants also terminated the practice squad contract of offensive tackle Will Holden.

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Giants defeat Bengals: Winners, losers and those in between

Here are the winners, losers and those in between from the New York Giants’ preseason Week 2 win over the Cincinnati Bengals.

After a solid showing against the New England Patriots in Week 1 of the preseason, the New York Giants were back at it on Sunday at MetLife Stadium.

Already down 18 players due to injury, the Giants quickly inflated that total. There were several notable injuries throughout the game, including to rookie edge rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux.

Back on the field, New York’s reserves struggled against the Cincinnati Bengals initially, but rebounded strong and closed things out on another Davis Webb comeback.

Giants sign OT Will Holden, waive DE Niko Lalos

The New York Giants have signed OT Will Holden and waived DE Niko Lalos.

With significant depth concerns at the offensive tackle position, the New York Giants were forced to make a move on Friday.

The team officially announced that offensive tackle Will Holden has been signed. He arrived in East Rutherford for a tryout earlier this week.

The 28-year-old Holden was originally a fifth-round pick of the Cardinals in 2017. After one year in Arizona, he became a bit of a journeyman making stops with the Indianapolis Colts, Miami Dolphins, Seattle Seahawks, San Francisco 49ers, Baltimore Ravens and Detroit Lions.

Holden made two stops with both the Cardinals and Colts.

Over the course of his five-year career, Holden has appeared in 27 games with nine starts. He earned a 60.8 Pro Football Focus grade with Detroit last year.

In order to clear room for Holden on the 90-man roster, the Giants waived defensive end Niko Lalos, who had become somewhat of a fan favorite.

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Giants claim CB Nate Meadors off waivers, hold OL workouts

The New York Giants have claimed DB Nate Meadors off of waivers from the Cleveland Browns.

With a spot available on their 90-man roster, the New York Giants claimed defensive back Nate Meadors off of waivers from the Cleveland Browns on Thursday.

The 25-year-old Meadors originally signed with the Minnesota Vikings as an undrafted free agent out of UCLA in 2019. After being released in September of 2020, he was quickly scooped up by the Jacksonville Jaguars and placed on their practice squad.

In 2021, Meadors had a cup of coffee with the Philadelphia Eagles before joining the Cleveland Browns. He remained with the Browns until being waived earlier this week.

The 5-foot-11, 194-pound Meadors has appeared in three NFL games and recorded two tackles.

In addition to claiming Meadors off of waivers, the Giants also held offensive tackle workouts on Thursday. Among those in attendance were Will Holden, Mitch Hyatt and Kyle Murphy.

None were immediately signed to a contract.

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Lions activate OTs Taylor Decker and Penei Sewell among final Week 18 roster moves

The Lions get their starting offensive tackles back jus tin time for the Week 18 matchup with the Packers

Good news for the Detroit Lions on the eve of their final game of the 2021 NFL season. The team activated starting offensive tackles Penei Sewell and Taylor Decker from the reserve/COVID-19 list in time to play in Sunday’s finale against Green Bay.

Activating Decker and Sewell means the Lions add two of the team’s best players back into the mix. Both tested positive early in the week but were able to clear protocols — namely being asymptomatic and producing a negative test — in time for the game. OLB Austin Bryant remains on the list.

Just to be safe, the Lions did elevate OT Dan Skipper from the practice squad, along with LB Tavante Beckett. They were standard elevations.

Sewell and reserve offensive tackle Will Holden were added to the injury report as questionable with illness, however. That helps explain Skipper’s promotion.

Detroit also brought freshly cut CB Saivion Smith back to the team on the practice squad. To make room, the Lions released WR Juwan Green and RB Rodney Smith from the practice squad.

D’Andre Swift, T.J. Hockenson among 7 Lions missing practice with injuries

D’Andre Swift and T.J. Hockenson among 7 Lions missing Wednesday’s practice with injuries

The Detroit Lions returned to the practice field on Wednesday in advance of Sunday’s home date with the Arizona Cardinals. Well, most of the team practiced.

Seven Lions players sat out with injuries, and that figure includes some pretty important names. Tight end T.J. Hockenson (hand), RB D’Andre Swift (shoulder) and LG Jonah Jackson (back) were among the players sitting out with injuries. On defense, LB Alex Anzalone (ankle) and OLB Julian Okwara (ankle) also sat out.

Two others, OT Will Holden and S Jalen Elliott, sat out but their absences were not injury-related.

Linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin was back for the first time in several weeks but appeared on just a limited basis. He wore a non-contact jersey in the portion of practice open to the media. Also limited with injuries:

  • RT Penei Sewell (shoulder)
  • OLB Austin Bryant (shoulder)
  • DE Michael Brockers (knee)
  • LB Derrick Barnes (knee)

Snap count notes: Lions leaned heavily on extra OL in Week 10

Snap count notes: Lions leaned heavily on using extra OL in the Week 10 tie with the Steelers

On a week where the Lions unceremoniously waived No. 2 tight end Darren Fells, the Detroit offense leaned heavily on replacing Fells’ old role in an unconventional way. Detroit used a sixth lineman as a de facto blocking tight end extensively in the Week 10 tie with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Between Matt Nelson (18 snaps) and Will Holden (10), the Lions leaned heavily on the “heavy” package. The 28 combined snaps were more than Fells played in any game through the first eight weeks. Nelson, the team’s starting right tackle the first eight games, left the game with an injury, which led to Holden’s reps.

With the starting offensive line all playing in each of the team’s 71 snaps, the Lions OL was busy. So was tight end T.J. Hockenson, who played in 67 reps. the new No. 2 TE, Brock Wright, was on the field for 36.

At running back, it was almost exclusively the D’Andre Swift show. Swift played a career-high 66 snaps. Without regular starter Jamaal Williams, the Lions gave three early reps to rookie Jermar Jefferson as the between-the-tackles runner. Jefferson suffered an injury of his own at the end of his 28-yard touchdown run and did not return. Godwin Igwebuike played just four snaps on offense, though he did play a season-high 27 special teams reps.

On defense, two Lions never left the field: LB Alex Anzalone and CB Amani Oruwariye. They both played all 87 snaps.

The cornerback reps after Oruwariye were jumbled by injuries. Jerry Jacobs left after playing all of the first 57 snaps. Former Steelers practice squad CB Mark Gilbert played the remaining 30 as the other outside CB opposite Oruwariye in his first defensive action in Detroit.

Along the defensive line, Da’Shawn Hand played the most. Hand played 68 reps. That’s significantly more than the next DEs on the list, Nick Williams (39) and Michael Brockers (38). Second-round rookie Levi Onwuzurike played just 26. Detroit didn’t use the nose tackle as much as normal vs. Pittsburgh, with third-round rookie Alim McNeill playing 15 and John Penisini in for 14.