Chiefs Place Xavier Williams On IR
It’s official. On Wednesday, the Chiefs placed defensive tackle Xavier Williams on injured reserve. 
Williams may or may not be a candidate to return later this year. Initial reports indicated that his high ankle sprain could rule him out for 4-6 weeks, which would allow him to return after a minimum of eight weeks on IR.
The Chiefs are also waiting for word on Chris Jones‘ groin strain, so it’s a double dose of defensive holes for the Chiefs. In the meantime, they’ve added defensive tackle Terrell McClain to help fill the gap, as well as offensive lineman Stefan Wisniewski.
Williams posted had eight tackles and one forced fumble in the first five games of the season. Last year, he saw time in every KC contest.
Buccaneers Release LB Deone Bucannon
The Buccaneers linebacker Deone Bucannon on Wednesday morning, as ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter tweets. Bucannon was preparing to face the Panthers in London this week, but he’ll now have to shift his focus to finding new employment.
Bucannon, a former first round pick of the Cardinals, might not be out of work for long. He offers some dual-position potential as a safety and, despite the ups and downs of his career, is still only 27.
The Bucs were hoping that Bucannon would pay off on an inexpensive one-year, $2.5MM deal. He did not do much to replace Kwon Alexander in his short run, however, and saw just eight snaps through five games.
Last year, Bucannon finished as one of Pro Football Focus’ worst-graded linebackers in a limited sample of 389 snaps. He’s still looking to reprise the 2015 season in which he broke out with 109 tackles, three sacks, and an interception.
Minor NFL Transactions: 10/8/19
Here are today’s minor moves:
Buffalo Bills
- Signed: RB Senorise Perry
Oakland Raiders
- Released from IR: DT Justin Ellis
- Waived: WR Marcell Ateman
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Waived: RB Tony Brooks-James, QB Nick Fitzgerald
Tennessee Titans
- Signed: RBs Dalyn Dawkins, Rod Smith
- Waived: OL Hroniss Grasu
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 10/8/19
Here are today’s practice squad updates:
Arizona Cardinals
- Signed: RB Justin Davis
Baltimore Ravens
- Signed: S A.J. Howard
- Released: TE Cole Herdman
Buffalo Bills
- Signed: LB Wyatt Ray
- Released: RB Byron Marshall
Green Bay Packers
- Signed: TE Ethan Wolf
Indianapolis Colts
- Signed: TE Ian Bunting
Los Angeles Chargers
- Released: TE Matt Sokol
Philadelphia Eagles
- Signed: CB Ajene Harris
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Signed: LB Robert Spillane
Tennessee Titans
- Signed: C Daniel Munyer
- Released: WR Papi White
Washington Redskins
- Signed: OL Malcolm Bunche, LB Cassanova McKinzy
- Released: CB Deion Harris, LB Chris Odom
Chiefs To Sign Stefen Wisniewski, Terrell McClain
The Chiefs, who are dealing with injuries to their O-line, are signing veteran Stefen Wisniewski, per Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (via Twitter). Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network tweets that the club is also adding a vet to their defensive front, Terrell McClain.
Wisniewski spent the last three years with the Eagles, who declined his 2019 option in March. He drew some interest on the open market, and Philly re-signed him in May, but he did not survive final cutdowns.
The 6’3″, 305-pound lineman offers experience at both guard and center and will, at the very least, provide veteran competence off the bench. He may also get a spot start here and there, and he has started at least six games per season since entering the league in 2011.
McClain, meanwhile, spent 2018 with the Falcons and appeared in 13 games. He hooked on with the Cardinals this offseason but, like Wisniewski, was cut at the end of August. He will likely become part of the Chiefs’ D-line rotation right away given that Chris Jones and Xavier Williams are both expected to miss time.
Both men have become NFL journeymen. The Chiefs will be McClain’s seventh team and Wisniewski’s fourth.
The Chiefs have also waived T Ryan Hunter.
Cardinals Claim Trevor Williams Off Waivers
The Cardinals have been awarded cornerback Trevor Williams off waivers, the team announced in a release. To make room on the active roster, Arizona has released punter Ryan Winslow.
Williams was just waived by the Chargers, and he’ll be staying on the west coast. Patrick Peterson still has one game left on his suspension and Tramaine Brock got banged up during Arizona’s Week 5 game, so they needed some help in the secondary. A Penn State product, Williams made a name for himself in Los Angeles as an undrafted free agent. In 2017, he started 15 games and had 13 passes defended and two interceptions.
He started seven games last year, but then got hurt and his recovery lagged. He started this year off injured again and hasn’t appeared in a game in 2019, although he’s apparently back to full health. He hasn’t played since midway through last season, so it’s unclear if he’ll be able to play right away. Either way, it’s a nice high-upside and low-risk pickup for this rebuilding Cardinals team. Winslow had been filling in for regular punter Andy Lee, who should now be ready to return from his injury.
Broncos Sign Coty Sensabaugh, Place De’Vante Bausby On IR
The Broncos are making a move to bolster their ailing defense. Denver is signing veteran cornerback Coty Sensabaugh, sources told Mike Klis of Denver 9 News (Twitter link).
Klis notes that the Broncos worked out several corners this morning, and Sensabaugh apparently won the competition. De’Vante Bausby, who was just recently inserted into the starting lineup, suffered a scary spine injury in their Week 5 win over the Chargers, and Klis reports in a separate tweet that he’s headed to injured reserve. Sensabaugh was a fourth-round pick of the Titans back in 2012, and he brings a lot of starting experience.
For his career, the Clemson product has appeared in 101 games while making 43 starts. After playing out his initial rookie deal in Tennessee, he landed a three-year, $15MM deal from the Rams. He started a couple of games early on, but was surprisingly released after just a month in Los Angeles. He spent the past two seasons in Pittsburgh, and started ten games for them last season.
Bausby was ultimately diagnosed with a cervical sprain, and thankfully was back in the locker room today moving around well and speaking to reporters. He shared some frightening details, including that he was partially paralyzed for the first 30 minutes after taking a friendly-fire hit, via Nicki Jhabvala of The Athletic (Twitter link). Hopefully Bausby continues to make a full recovery, and it sounds like that’s what is expected.
Falcons Place Johnathan Cyprien On IR
Injuries continue to pile up for the Falcons’ defense. Just about a week after making a deal to acquire safety Johnathan Cyprien from the Eagles, the team is placing him on injured reserve, they announced in a release.
Details on his injury weren’t immediately released, but he’ll now have to miss at least the next eight weeks. The Falcons already lost starting safety Keanu Neal for the season, and traded for Cyprien in part to help replace him. Cyprien started the team’s Week 5 loss to the Texans, so it’s yet another big blow to a unit that has been one of the most banged up in the entire league the past couple of years. The Falcons are now 1-4, and at a crossroads. Owner Arthur Blank has said he’s not making a coaching change at this time, but Dan Quinn is clearly on the hot seat.
Cyprien originally entered the league as a second-round pick of the Jaguars back in 2013. After four years as a full-time starter in Jacksonville, he signed with the Titans in 2017. He missed six games with a hamstring injury that year, but started the other ten. Last year, he missed the entire season with a torn ACL, and it’s unclear if his latest injury is related to that.
The Falcons made a small flurry of corresponding roster moves. They signed cornerback D.J. White off of the Eagles’ practice squad to their active roster, signed offensive lineman John Wetzel, signed punter Sam Irwin-Hill to their practice squad and released tight end Carson Meier off of the practice squad. Wetzel has started 24 games for the Cardinals the past three years, and White is a 2016 sixth-round pick of the Chiefs who has bounced around a bit but never played much.
Titans Cut OL David Quessenberry
Cairo Santos wasn’t the only Titans player to lose their job today. The team announced that they’ve also waived offensive lineman David Quessenberry.
Quessenberry, a 2013 sixth-round pick, spent more than three years on the Texans’ non-football injury list after being diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in June 2014. After completing his treatment, the lineman was activated for two games back in 2017, but he was waived by Houston at the end of the 2018 preseason.
The 29-year-old later joined the Titans practice squad, where he spent much of the 2018 campaign. He made his way into four games for Tennessee this season, and he hauled in a touchdown during the Titans’ Week 2 loss to the Colts. Quessenberry was inactive during his team’s loss to the Bills yesterday.
After missing four field goals in yesterday’s loss, the Titans dropped Santos today. They later signed kicker Cody Parkey, who’s also familiar with missing kicks.
Raiders Activate CB Nevin Lawson
Nevin Lawson should be set to make his Raiders debut on Sunday. The team activated the veteran defensive back from the exempt list today. Lawson was reinstated from his suspension last week.
The 28-year-old spent the first five seasons of his career with the Lions, and he appeared in at least 15 games per season between 2015 and 2018. During his final season in Detroit, Lawson finished with 53 tackles, one sack, and five passes defended.
The cornerback joined the Raiders on a one-year deal in March, and he was later hit with a four-game suspension for taking a banned substance. Lawson later said he tested positive for Ostarine, although he denied ever taking it.
The Raiders are currently only rostering four cornerbacks in Gareon Conley, Lamarcus Joyner, Keisean Nixon, and Curtis Riley. Assuming Nelson gets playing time, he’ll have a chance to snag his first interception in more than 3,000 career snaps.
In a related move, the Raiders waived offensive lineman Lester Cotton.