Here’s are Thursday’s practice squad changes from around the NFL:
Atlanta Falcons
Cleveland Browns
Houston Texans
New York Giants
Philadelphia Eagles
Here are Wednesday’s practice squad transactions:
Buffalo Bills
Denver Broncos
Green Bay Packers
Houston Texans
Pittsburgh Steelers
Seattle Seahawks
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Wallace was one of three defensive backs to work out in Houston today alongside nickelback Beanie Bishop and safety Brandon Hill. Though Bishop showed promise in parts of his rookie campaign last year, Wallace boasts the most experience of the three and has been added to the fold as the Texans attempt to make up for the absences of M.J. Stewart and Jalen Pitre.
Here are today’s midweek NFL minor moves:
Buffalo Bills
Cleveland Browns
Denver Broncos
Houston Texans
Johnston’s injuries have seemingly led to him looking for a new team yet again, assuming he clears waivers. The veteran punter signed with Pittsburgh last year, following two three-year stints in Philadelphia and Houston. In his first game as a Steeler, though, Johnston suffered a season-ending knee injury on his kicking leg. He’d been given a chance to win the job back from Corliss Waitman, who had filled in during his absence, but lost the job and a spot on the team’s initial 53-man roster.
Rebounding quickly, Johnston signed with the Bills after they made a quick decision to move on from Brad Robbins following their season opener. Johnston got through three games with his new team before suffered an injury on his planting foot that would lead him to injured reserve. Now, the veteran heads to the waiver wire before he’ll have the ability to shop himself out for new opportunities.
The Texans managed to win on Sunday thanks to a miraculous fourth-quarter comeback. They will be shorthanded in the secondary for the remainder of the campaign, however. 
Safety M.J. Stewart was injured in the first half of today’s contest against the Jaguars. An air cast was placed on his left leg before he was carted off the field. Further testing has revealed Stewart tore his quadriceps, Aaron Wilson of KPRC2 reports. As a result, season-ending surgery will be required.
This news means Houston will be without a key contributor on defense moving forward. Stewart hardly saw the field during the first three weeks of the season, but the decision to release C.J. Gardner-Johnson created a vacancy in the starting lineup. Stewart was tasked with filling that spot, and the eighth-year veteran saw a major uptick in playing time after that switch.
Now, the Texans will be forced to find another new first-team option at the safety spot. The team sits at 4-5 on the year thanks to today’s win, so a push into a wild-card spot remains possible. If Houston is to reach the postseason, continued strong play on defense – the team entered Week 10 ranked top-six in the NFL against the run and pass – will be required. Without Stewart in the fold, however, a veteran presence will be missed.
The former second-rounder has been with the Texans since 2018. Stewart remained in place via a one-year, $2.5MM deal this offseason. His free agent market was not in line to be particularly robust anyway, but this injury will obviously hurt his earning potential on the open market.
With the trade deadline having come and gone, Houston’s opportunities to add depth will be limited. The Texans have $7.71MM in cap space, though, so a modest free agent signing will be feasible.
The 2024 offseason brought a change in how teams could construct their 53-man rosters while retaining flexibility with injured players. Clubs were permitted to attach return designations to two players (in total) placed on IR or an NFI list before setting their initial rosters.
In prior years, anyone placed on IR before a team set its initial 53-man roster could not be activated in-season. All August 26 IR- or NFI-return designations, however, already count against teams’ regular-season limit of eight. Teams will be tasked with determining which players injured in-season will factor into activation puzzles as the year progresses.
All players designated for return on August 26 became eligible to be activated beginning in Week 5, though any player placed on IR after a team set its initial 53 has not been designated for return and therefore does not yet count toward a club’s eight-activation limit. Playoff teams will receive two additional injury activations once the postseason begins.
Here is how the 32 teams’ activation puzzles look for Week 12:
Designated for return (Aug. 26):
Designated for return:
Eligible for activation:
Activated:
Activations remaining: 5
Reverted to season-ending IR:
Eligible for activation:
Activated:
Activations remaining: 4
Designated for return (Aug. 26):
Eligible for activation:
Activations remaining: 6
Designated for return (Aug. 26):
Eligible for activation:
Activated:
Activations remaining: 5
Eligible for activation:
Activated:
Activations remaining: 4
Designated for return:
Eligible for activation:
Activated:
Activations remaining: 5
Designated for return (Aug. 26):
Designated for return:
Activated:
Activations remaining: 4
Designated for return (Aug. 26):
Designated for return:
Eligible for activation:
Activations remaining: 7
Designated for return (Aug. 26):
Eligible for activation:
Activated:
Activations remaining: 2
Designated for return (Aug. 26):
Designated for return:
Eligible for activation:
Activated:
Activations remaining: 5
Designated for return:
Eligible for activation:
Activated:
Activations remaining: 7
Designated for return (Aug. 26):
Designated for return:
Eligible for activation:
Activated:
Activations remaining: 6
Designated for return:
Eligible for activation:
Activated:
Activations remaining: 5
Designated for return (Aug. 26):
Eligible for activation:
Activated:
Activations remaining: 5
Designated for return (Aug. 26):
Designated for return:
Activations remaining: 7
Designated for return (Aug. 26):
Activations remaining: 6
Eligible for activation:
Activated:
Activations remaining: 6
Eligible for activation:
Activated:
Activations remaining: 3
Eligible for activation:
Activations remaining: 8
Designated for return (Aug. 26):
Designated for return:
Eligible for activation:
Activations remaining: 5
Designated for return:
Eligible for activation:
Activated:
Activations remaining: 4
Activated:
Activations remaining: 7
Eligible for activation:
Activated:
Activations remaining: 6
Designated for return (Aug. 26):
Eligible for activation:
Activated:
Activations remaining: 5
Designated for return:
Eligible for activation:
Activated:
Activations remaining: 6
Designated for return (Aug. 26):
Designated for return:
Eligible for activation:
Activated:
Activations remaining: 4
Reverted to season-ending IR
Eligible for activation:
Activated:
Activations remaining: 5
Activated:
Activations remaining: 4
Activated:
Activations remaining: 6
Eligible for activation:
Activated:
Activations remaining: 7
Eligible for activation:
Activated:
Activations remaining: 4
Designated for return:
Eligible for activation:
Activated:
Activations remaining: 7
Here are Saturday’s taxi squad moves around the NFL:
Chicago Bears
Houston Texans
Miami Dolphins
Philadelphia Eagles
Pittsburgh Steelers
Seattle Seahawks
Several teams around the NFL made tweaks to their rosters on Saturday in preparation for Sunday’s slate of games. Here are all the latest moves:
Arizona Cardinals
Atlanta Falcons
Baltimore Ravens
Buffalo Bills
Carolina Panthers
Chicago Bears
Detroit Lions
Houston Texans
Indianapolis Colts
Jacksonville Jaguars
Los Angeles Chargers
Los Angeles Rams
Miami Dolphins
Minnesota Vikings
New England Patriots
New Orleans Saints
New York Giants
New York Jets
Pittsburgh Steelers
Seattle Seahawks
Washington Commanders
Week 10 will mark the debut for both players the Chargers gave the IR-designated for return label during roster cutdowns in August. Their activations had already been accounted for, but Hand’s had not. With those three now back in the fold, the Bolts have three IR activations remaining on the season.
Only one team made a practice squad move on Friday, though more are sure to come on Saturday as others prepare their roster for Sunday’s slate.
Houston Texans
The Texans re-signed Huzzie to their practice squad after waiving him on Thursday.
Here are Thursday’s minor transactions:
Chicago Bears
Denver Broncos
Houston Texans
Las Vegas Raiders
Miami Dolphins
Philadelphia Eagles
Pittsburgh Steelers
Leal, a third-round pick out of Texas A&M in 2022, has failed to live up to his draft stock thus far in the NFL. After only seeing game time in three games this year, he’s been waived to make room for the defensive tackle Pittsburgh signed off of the Chiefs’ practice squad yesterday.
Huzzie, after spending much of his rookie season on the reserve/non-football injury list, is being sent to waivers. Should he clear them, it’s expected that he’ll return to Houston on a practice squad deal.
A pair of Texans defenders are heading to injured reserve. According to Aaron Wilson of KPRC2 in Houston, the team is placing cornerback Jaylin Smith and defensive end Darrell Taylor on IR.
Smith will miss at least the next four games while he nurses an undisclosed injury. The rookie third-round pick has played sparingly in 2025, getting into 31 defensive snaps and 78 special teams snaps in four games. The USC product was serving as a back-of-the-depth-chart boundary corner for Houston, and journeyman Tremon Smith will likely soak up any remaining backup snaps at the position.
Taylor has also barely seen the field during his first season with the franchise. The defensive lineman has gotten into four games, and he’s mostly split his 64 snaps between defense and special teams. The former second-round pick compiled 21.5 sacks in three seasons with Seattle before spending the 2024 campaign in Chicago. An ankle issue will sideline him through November.
Elsewhere in Houston, the team made some adjustments to their practice squad. According to Wilson, the team added kicker Matthew Wright and released tight end Dalton Keene.
Per Wilson, Texans starting kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn is dealing with a lower body injury that will put his status for Week 10 in doubt. Jonathan M Alexander of the Houston Chronicle is a bit more definitive with his report, noting that Fairbairn isn’t expected to play this weekend. The veteran is coming off a Week 9 performance where he connected on five of his six field goal attempts.
Wright is apparently the team’s solution to temporarily fill that spot. The Texans represent the veteran’s 11th NFL team, although he’s mostly been limited to cameos in his previous spots. In total, Wright has appeared in 31 career games, connecting on 87.5 percent of his field goal tries (56 for 64) and 95.6 percent of his XP attempts (43 for 45).
A former Patriots draft pick, Keene has spent parts of the past three seasons in Houston. He’s been limited to a single game during his Texans tenure.