Mike James

Bucs Place Akeem Spence On IR

Akeem Spence‘s third season will end with a trip to injured reserve, with the Buccaneers shelving one of their starting defensive tackles, Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle reports (on Twitter).

The third-year starter alongside Gerald McCoy had been ruled out for Sunday’s game due to an ankle injury. Running back Mike James will take Spence’s place on the 53-man roster.

Spence began the season on the PUP list with a back malady, but returned to play in eight games this season (seven starts). The 2013 fourth-rounder notched 11 tackles and his fifth career sack this season.

A starter for five games last year and 14 as a rookie, Spence will enter his contract year next season on the heels of a down campaign. Pro Football Focus rated the 24-year-old interior defender 92nd in that category this season, behind both McCoy and teammate Clinton McDonald, who was placed on IR earlier this season.

Tony McDaniel and Henry Melton will see more time in Tampa Bay’s remaining two games as a result.

James has played 19 games, all of which coming in the 2013-14 slates. His most extensive NFL work came as a rookie in ’13, when he took over for an injured Doug Martin and rushed for 295 yards (4.9 per carry). James also caught 10 passes for 43 yards before going down for the year himself.

The 24-year-old ex-sixth-round pick didn’t factor in much last season, gaining just 37 yards in 11 games.

 

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 12/18/15

Here are today’s practice squad signings, cuts, and other notes from around the NFL:

Indianapolis Colts

Pittsburgh Steelers

  • Increased salary: DL Caushaud Lyons (Twitter link via Field Yates of ESPN.com)
    • Earning $25,588 per week

San Diego Chargers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Workout Updates: 10/16/15

We’ve passed along a few of the more notable updates from the last few days on workouts and free agent visits, including the Giants trying out wide receivers like Terrelle Pryor and the Cowboys bringing in running back LaMike James. However, there are plenty more tryout updates from this week to round up, and we’ve got them all below. All links point to the Twitter account of Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post, unless otherwise indicated.

Arizona Cardinals

Dallas Cowboys

Detroit Lions

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Kansas City Chiefs

Miami Dolphins

  • Devin Gardner, WR (link)
  • Josh Harper, WR

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

New York Jets

  • Jordan Dewalt-Ondijo, LB (link)

Philadelphia Eagles

San Francisco 49ers

Tennessee Titans

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 10/1/15

Here are the practice squad signings and cuts from around the NFL for the first day of October:

Cleveland Browns

Kansas City Chiefs

New England Patriots

New York Jets

  • Signed: DL Deon Simon (Twitter link via Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News)

San Diego Chargers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Buccaneers Waive Mike James

The Buccaneers have removed a running back from their roster, according to Rand Getlin of Yahoo! Sports, who tweets that third-year back Mike James has been cut by Tampa Bay. James will have to pass through waivers unclaimed before he becomes a free agent.

James, 24, joined the Buccaneers a sixth-round pick in the 2013 draft, and earned three starts during his rookie season. For the year, he racked up 295 rushing yards on just 60 carries, good for an average of 4.9 yards per rush.

Since then, however, James hasn’t been a significant part of Tampa Bay’s offense. The former Miami Hurricane had just 37 yards on 19 carries last year, and hasn’t touched the ball so far this regular season. With Doug Martin, Charles Sims, and Bobby Rainey ahead of him on the depth chart, James had become expendable for the Bucs.

NFC Links: Greenway, Graham, Riddick

Vikings veteran linebacker Chad Greenway, coming off a disappointing 2013 season in which a wrist injury affected his play, is a player with “something to prove,” according to ESPN’s Ben Goessling: “Greenway took a paycut after a disappointing 2013 season with the Vikings, and he has just one year left on his contract after this season. The Vikings would have to count only a $1.7 million bonus proration against their 2015 cap if they cut Greenway after this season, and they’d save $7.1 million, meaning Greenway could be looking at another contract restructure or a release if he doesn’t pick things up at age 31 this season.”

Here’s some more NFC-related reading:

  • ESPN’s Mike Triplett did his best to clarify an arbitrator’s ruling that — for the purpose of the Saints’ franchise tag designation — Jimmy Graham was a tight end, in part, because of the so-called “4-yard benchmark.”
  • Late last month, Tim Twentyman wrote about Lions running back Theo Riddick turning heads with an impressive spring which caught the eye of head coach Jim Caldwell in particular. Now backup quarterback Dan Orlovsky is adding to the hype. Talking on Ross Tucker’s podcast, Orlovsky said, “I’m telling you, if [Riddick] doesn’t 50 catches this year, I’ll be surprised because he’s going to have opportunities and he’s very talented at it. I think he’s going to play that Sproles role, for sure.”
  • Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo is rehabbing from back surgery for the second consecutive offseason, writes David Moore of the Dallas Morning News, but Romo says his conditioning is “miles ahead of last year.”
  • Barry Church will hold down one safety spot for the Cowboys, but his running mate is to be determined. Bryan Broaddus of DallasCowboys.com thinks it will come down to J.J. Wilcox or Jakar Hamilton. “Wilcox has lost weight and is playing with better movement along with a better understanding of what his responsibilities are,” says Broaddus. Matt Johnson, a 2012 fourth-rounder out of Eastern Washington, is the most talented of the bunch, according to Broaddus, but Johnson hasn’t been able to stay healthy.
  • The Redskins drafted Josh LeRibeus in the third round in 2012 anticipating he would develop into a starter. Two years later, he must prove himself a capable backup just to stick on the roster, writes Mike Jones in the Washington Post.
  • In a rundown of NFC South depth chart notes, Pro Football Focus’ Gordon McGuinness recognized the encouraging play of a pair of 2013 rookies: Saints offensive tackle Terron Armstead and Buccaneers running back Mike James, both of whom made the most of limited opportunity.