Dakoda Shepley

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 9/21/23

Today’s practice squad moves:

Houston Texans

  • Signed: CB D’Angelo Ross

Indianapolis Colts

Los Angeles Rams

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

Seattle Seahawks

Tennessee Titans

The Patriots are struggling with injuries in their cornerbacks room, so the organization added two players to the practice squad for reinforcement. Borders has the most experience, with the veteran appearing in 32 games since entering the league in 2017. He only got into a single game for the Bears in 2022, but he did appear in 12 games with the Titans and Cardinals in 2021. Hearn had a stint with the Chargers after going undrafted out of UCLA in this year’s draft.

Minor NFL Transactions: 8/28/23

We are less than 24 hours from the deadline for NFL teams to trim their rosters to 53 players. Here are the latest moves teams have made as they pare their squads down toward the in-season limit:

Baltimore Ravens

Chicago Bears

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

Miami Dolphins

  • Released from IR via injury settlement: DB Tino Ellis

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

New York Jets

Pittsburgh Steelers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Colts C Danny Pinter Out For Season

Colts center Danny Pinter suffered a broken left ankle during the team’s preseason win over the Eagles on Thursday, as Mike Chappell of Fox 59 writes. Pinter has been placed on injured reserve, and his season is over.

Pinter, a 2020 fifth-round choice, has appeared in 46 games (seven starts) in his first three professional seasons. He opened the 2022 campaign as Indianapolis’ starting right guard but was benched for poor performance after just three games. He handled the bulk of the snaps at center in relief of an injured Ryan Kelly in the Colts’ Week 5 win over the Broncos, was relegated to reserve duty when Kelly returned the following week, and scarcely saw any action the rest of the way.

This season, Pinter was penciled in as Kelly’s primary backup at the pivot. Pinter started three games at the position in 2021 and received a strong 78.4 run-blocking grade from Pro Football Focus for his work, though his subpar 46.0 pass-blocking mark left much to be desired. The Colts did, however, win all three of those contests, and the club values Pinter’s ability to line up at multiple positions along the O-line.

“Danny is a really good player for us,” head coach Shane Steichen said. “To lose a guy like him is very unfortunate for us.”

2022 UDFA Wesley French and 2023 waiver claim Dakoda Shepley are the top internal options to fill the backup center role. However, French has yet to take a regular season snap in the NFL, and Shepley’s only non-special teams action came with the Cowboys last year, when he took eight snaps at center and six at right guard.

Steichen did not commit to either player at this point, saying, “[we’re] working through all of that right now. There are a couple of guys we’re looking at.”

It is possible that the Colts look for external reinforcements with cutdown day looming, especially since they will be starting rookie Anthony Richardson at quarterback.

Minor NFL Transactions: 1/10/23

Today’s minor NFL transactions, mostly involving playoff teams:

Indianapolis Colts

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

  • Designated for return: WR Dee Eskridge

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Per ESPN’s Field Yates (on Twitter), Shepley will be allowed to officially join his new squad after the Super Bowl. The offensive lineman spent most of the 2022 campaign on the Cowboys practice squad.

Davis, a sixth-round rookie out of UCF, is still recovering from a torn ACL suffered during his final collegiate season. He returned to practice earlier this month but ultimately won’t be activated for the playoffs. Per Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area (on Twitter), the defensive lineman continues to recover and should be good to go for the offseason program.

Minor NFL Transactions: 1/9/23

A few transactions on the first day of the postseason:

Dallas Cowboys

Indianapolis Colts

New England Patriots

Bailey and Jones’s suspension was lifted today by the Patriots. In addition, free agent tight end Chris Herndon and Packers offensive lineman Sean Rhyan‘s suspensions were lifted by the league.

Cowboys Add CB Xavier Rhodes To Practice Squad

The Cowboys have added another veteran defensive back. NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo reports (via Twitter) that Dallas has added cornerback Xavier Rhodes to the practice squad.

Rhodes caught on with the Bills practice squad back in September, and he got into two games (one start) before earning his walking papers earlier this week. The 32-year-old made a name for himself in Minnesota, where he started 97 games across seven seasons. During that time, he made three Pro Bowl appearances and earned an All-Pro nod. He spent two seasons with the Colts before joining Buffalo.

With Jourdan Lewis and Anthony Brown down with injuries, the Cowboys have mostly turned to veterans to help fill their secondary. As ESPN’s Todd Archer points out on Twitter, the Cowboys have also signed veterans Mackensie Alexander and Trayvon Mullen in recent weeks, with Archer adding that Rhodes’ experience is a big reason why the Cowboys pursued him.

The Cowboys made some additional moves in anticipation of tomorrow’s game against the Commanders. Archer reports (via Twitter) that Dallas has signed offensive lineman Dakoda Shepley from the practice squad to the active roster. The Cowboys have also used standard elevations on offensive tackle Alex Taylor and safety Tyler Coyle. Offensive lineman Tyler Biadasz suffered a high ankle sprain in Week 17 while Matt Farniok isn’t entirely ready to return from IR, necessitating the extra OL depth.

Minor NFL Transactions: 11/19/22

The league’s minor moves leading up to gameday:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Buffalo Bills

Chicago Bears

Dallas Cowboys

Detroit Lions

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Kansas City Chiefs

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

Minnesota Vikings

  • Signed to active roster: TE Nick Muse
  • Promoted from practice squad: CB Tay Gowan
  • Waived: OLB Benton Whitley

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

New York Jets

Washington Commanders

Cowboys RB Ezekiel Elliott Out For Week 10

NOVEMBER 13: Unsurprisingly given the team’s moves yesterday, Elliott will be inactive once again. That will leave Pollard with a heavy workload as the undisputed lead back for the second straight week.

NOVEMBER 12: Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott is listed as questionable going into this Sunday’s game in Green Bay. The team’s practice squad elevations today may hint at which direction Elliott is trending, though. Dallas is elevating running back Qadree Ollison and guard Dakoda Shepley for tomorrow afternoon’s game.

Ollison has only been called up for one game this season and appeared sparingly, but Dallas’ season trends make the elevation a decision that we can read into a bit more. The Cowboys have had three running backs active in every game this year. Elliott’s questionable designation means that he could technically be active for the game, but if he is, it will be the first game of the year for the Cowboys that they would have four active running backs available to play.

If Elliott is unable to go, Tony Pollard will take the start and the majority of the work on offense. Rico Dowdle was the third back on the roster for much of the season behind Elliott and Pollard before being placed on injured reserve a month ago. With Dowdle out, undrafted rookie Malik Davis served as the third running back for the following two games. With Elliott out last week, the Cowboys were forced to give Davis his first offensive snaps behind Pollard as Ollison made his first appearance of the season as the third back.

If the trend continues, Ollison’s call up points to an inactive Elliott, leading to a second straight game of Pollard as the lead back with Davis and Ollison backing him up.

Minor NFL Transactions: 10/29/22

Here are the minor moves leading into Sunday’s slate of games:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Carolina Panthers

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Rams

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Washington Commanders

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 9/1/22

Today’s practice squad moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

  • Signed: TE Anthony Firkser, TE Tucker Fisk, CB Ka’Dar Hollman

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Kansas City Chiefs

Las Vegas Raiders

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

  • Signed: WR Lynn Bowden Jr.

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

  • Signed: LB Davion Taylor

Pittsburgh Steelers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans