Minor NFL Transactions: 12/3/22
Here are the league’s minor transactions leading into the Sunday-slate of Week 13 games:
Atlanta Falcons
- Promoted from practice squad: DE Quinton Bell, C Jonotthan Harrison
Baltimore Ravens
- Signed to active roster: WR Binjimen Victor
- Promoted from practice squad: WR DeSean Jackson, S Ar’Darius Washington
- Placed on IR: WR Tylan Wallace
Cincinnati Bengals
- Promoted from practice squad: P Drue Chrisman
Cleveland Browns
- Promoted from practice squad: S Mike Brown
Dallas Cowboys
- Promoted from practice squad: T Aviante Collins
Green Bay Packers
- Promoted from practice squad: S Micah Abernathy, RB Patrick Taylor
Houston Texans
- Promoted from practice squad: CB Jacobi Francis
Indianapolis Colts
- Promoted from practice squad: LB Forrest Rhyne
Kansas City Chiefs
- Promoted from practice squad: S Zayne Anderson, WR Cornell Powell
Las Vegas Raiders
- Promoted from practice squad: DT Kyle Peko
Los Angeles Chargers
- Promoted from practice squad: T Zack Bailey
Los Angeles Rams
- Signed to active roster: OLB Keir Thomas, WR Austin Trammell
- Promoted from practice squad: RB Malcolm Brown, DE T.J. Carter
Miami Dolphins
- Promoted from practice squad: OL James Empey, T Kendall Lamm
Minnesota Vikings
- Promoted from practice squad: LB William Kwenkeu
San Francisco 49ers
- Placed on IR: RB Elijah Mitchell (story)
Seattle Seahawks
- Promoted from practice squad: LB Vi Jones, WR Laquon Treadwell
Tennessee Titans
- Activated from IR: OLB Olasunkanmi Adeniyi
- Promoted from practice squad: RB Julius Chestnut, CB Davontae Harris
- Waived: K Caleb Shudak
Washington Commanders
- Promoted from practice squad: WR Alex Erickson
Giants Activate OLB Azeez Ojulari, S Tony Jefferson From IR
The Giants are in the midst of a bit of a midseason slump during a crucial four-game stretch of division games. They are activating pass rusher Azeez Ojulari and safety Tony Jefferson from injured reserve in hopes that they’ll be able to turn things around after losing three of their last four, according to Giants senior writer Michael Elsen. 
New York will certainly be glad to see Ojulari return to the field to assist with an aspect of the game they’ve struggled with so far this season: sack production. Giants defensive coordinator Wink Martindale has been able to produce some form of pass rush, much like he did during his time with the Ravens, by getting creative and sending blitzers from every part of the field. While this has resulted in 12 different players contributing to the team’s sack total, the Giants haven’t gotten consistent results out of any one player, besides defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence. Lawrence leads the team with five sacks and is the only one of those 12 players with more than two.
Ojulari not only will get to the quarterback, as he showed he could during his rookie season when he led the team with eight sacks, but his presence should help the other defensive lineman provide more of a natural pass rush. With offensive linemen focused on Ojulari, Lawrence, Leonard Williams, and this year’s No. 5 overall pick, Kayvon Thibodeaux, should be freed up with some one-on-one matchups.
Jefferson is a depth piece in the Giants secondary. After two standard gameday elevations, Jefferson was signed to the team’s active roster for their London game against the Packers. Jefferson unfortunately suffered a foot injury in the game and was promptly placed on IR. With starting safety Xavier McKinney ruled out for the fourth-straight game, Jefferson provides a solid option alongside Dane Belton to start opposite the team’s other starting safety, Julian Love.
New York also made an exchange at the tight end position in today’s transactions. The Giants signed veteran tight end Nick Vannett to the active roster from the practice squad, waiving tight end Tanner Hudson to make room. With fourth-round rookie, and expected starter, Daniel Bellinger missing the last four games with an eye injury, the Giants have recently turned to recent addition Lawrence Cager who converted from wide receiver this past offseason. The team is expecting to finally get Bellinger back but will have Cager and Vannett available for backup.
Lastly, New York has promoted defensive tackle Vernon Butler and defensive back Zyon Gilbert as standard gameday elevations from the practice squad for tomorrow’s matchup with the Commanders. If Gilbert enters the game for Big Blue tomorrow, it would be the NFL debut for the undrafted rookie out of Florida Atlantic.
Eagles Activate DT Jordan Davis From IR
Philadelphia announced today that it will be activating first-round defensive tackle Jordan Davis off of injured reserve following a four-week stint off the active roster. In a corresponding move, the Eagles placed safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson on IR. 
Davis started off his rookie season coming off the bench behind Eagles starting defensive tackles Fletcher Cox and Javon Hargrave. Philadelphia couldn’t keep the No. 13 overall pick off the field, though, and soon began starting all three players each game.
In Davis’s absence, the Eagles turned to Marlon Tuipulotu until he found his way to the IR, as well, with a torn meniscus. The team then turned to Linval Joseph after signing him and fellow veteran Ndamukong Suh in consecutive days. It’s reasonable to expect Davis to return to the starting lineup alongside Cox and Hargrave in his return, returning Joseph to backup duties with Suh. It’s speculative, but Davis returning as soon as he is eligible could be a strong sign that he is completely ready to return with no lingering effects from the high ankle sprain that landed him on IR in the first place.
Following news that Gardner-Johnson, the team’s starting safety, would be out indefinitely with a lacerated kidney, his placement on IR doesn’t come as much of a surprise. If he can make a speedy recovery, Gardner-Johnson should be eligible to return in time for the final two games of the regular season and a likely Eagles postseason run.
The league’s interceptions-leader will likely be replaced by undrafted rookie out of Middle Tennessee Reed Blankenship. Although it seems like a big downgrade on paper, Blankenship showed his potential almost immediately, intercepting Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers shortly after coming into last week’s game to replace Gardner-Johnson.
In addition to the two IR transactions, the Eagles have also promoted linebacker Christian Elliss from the practice squad as a standard gameday elevation for this week’s matchup against the Titans.
Justin Fields To Start In Week 13
DECEMBER 3: Getting Fields back is crucial for the Bears this week as their backup quarterback, Siemian is being placed on IR. To fulfill the backup duties, Chicago has signed the practice squad quarterback, Peterman, to the active roster, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network.
DECEMBER 2: Justin Fields has made steady progress since suffering a dislocated shoulder, and he will ultimately miss just one game as a result of it. The Bears quarterback is not on the team’s Week 13 injury report, meaning he is in line to start on Sunday. 
Fields was carted off the field during Chicago’s Week 11 loss to the Falcons. The injury took away his opportunity to record three consecutive 100-yard rushing games, but more importantly, also left his short- and intermediate-term availability in question. After further testing, it became clear that his return to game action would be dependent on pain management.
The 2021 first-rounder expressed optimism in being able to suit up for Week 12, but was held out. He received first-team reps in practice this week, though, and was listed as a full participant for the past two days. As a result, head coach Matt Eberflus said Fields is “100%” with respect to his health status leading into the upcoming contest against the Packers.
“Right now he feels, and we feel, that the mobility and strength is there for him to protect himself,” Eberflus added, via ESPN’s Courtney Cronin, on Twitter, “and he feels like he’s a hundred percent, ready to go.”
That will allow the Ohio State alum to pick up where he left off in what has become an encouraging second year in the NFL. Fields has taken an incremental step forward as a passer in 2022, operating within a very run-heavy scheme and with a pass-catching corps which will no longer include No. 1 wideout Darnell Mooney for the rest of the season. On the ground, though, Fields has become the team’s offensive focal point with a league-leading 6.8 yards per carry and seven rushing touchdowns.
Even as Fields is set to return, however, the Bears will be shorthanded under center moving forward. Veteran backup Trevor Siemian – who filled in for Fields last week – suffered an oblique injury during warmups. While he was able to play through it during Chicago’s loss to the Jets, the 30-year-old will now undergo season-ending surgery, per an announcement from Eberflus. That will leave Fields and Nathan Peterman available as signal-callers for the remainder of the season.
The 3-9 Bears are not in the thick of the NFC playoff race, but they will have the opportunity to evaluate Fields both in terms of his recovery, and his continued career ascension as the rebuilding squad eyes improvements in the offseason.
Lions Activate WR Jameson Williams, DE Romeo Okwara
The Lions announced today that they will be adding two major pieces at a time when the team is playing its best football of the season. Rookie first-round pick Jameson Williams is set to make his NFL debut after spending the first 12 weeks of the season on the reserve/non-football injury list and defensive end Romeo Okwara is set to play his first football since October 3rd of last season. 
Williams was a transfer student who joined the Crimson Tide after two seasons at Ohio State. In his lone season at Alabama, Williams dominated as the team’s No. 1 receiver. While teammate (and fellow rookie who also has yet to play an NFL snap) John Metchie III led the team in catches (96), Williams led the team in every other receiving category with his 79 receptions for 1,572 yards and 15 touchdowns. A month after Metchie tore his ACL in the 2021 SEC Championship Game, Williams tore his in the 2022 College Football Playoff National Championship game.
Detroit has had to make do without many receiving options this year. Williams has been unavailable until now, free agent addition DJ Chark has only appeared in five games this year due to an ankle injury, and Quintez Cephus has been on injured reserve since the beginning of October, much like he was last year. With all those receivers out, second-year wide out Amon-Ra St. Brown has stepped up for a breakout year leading the team in receptions (65), receiving yards (716), and receiving touchdowns (4). Kalif Raymond and Josh Reynolds have also been asked to step up during the absences. It’s unclear how much Williams will be involved this week, so it might make sense for the Lions to play this week with a top-three of St. Brown, Raymond, and Chark, easing Williams into professional play and counting on Reynolds and Tom Kennedy in relief.
Okwara is in his fifth year with the Lions after spending two years as an undrafted free agent with the Giants. Detroit claimed the pass rusher off waivers from New York just before the 2018 season and he rewarded them immediately. Okwara started 14 games for the Lions in 15 appearances and led the team with 7.5 sacks and 14 quarterback hits, adding eight tackles for loss for good measure. After a surprising down year in 2019 where Okwara saw his usage plummet, he came back with a vengeance in 2020. Okwara posted career highs in sacks (10.0), tackles for loss (11.0), and quarterback hits (18) leading the team in each category by a mile. Okwara saw his 2021 season end with a torn Achilles tendon in Week 4 and hasn’t seen the football field since, spending all of this season so far on the reserve/physically unable to perform list.
The Lions pass rush could certainly use the 2020-version of Okwara. The team’s sack leader this year in rookie No. 2 overall pick Aidan Hutchinson, who only has 5.5 sacks. After Hutchinson, Detroit has three players tied with two sacks apiece. One of those players is Okwara’s younger brother Julian Okwara. The younger Okwara brother is unfortunately headed to IR after injuring his elbow in the team’s Thanksgiving Day matchup with the Bills. Unless the team feels strongly about bringing the third-year outside linebacker back for the final two games of the regular season, his year may be over. Activating Romeo is a big boost but losing your second-most effective pass rusher for the season in Julian hurts.
In addition to the team’s three reserve list transactions, the Lions will also promote center Ross Pierschbacher from the practice squad as a standard gameday elevation against the Jaguars this week.
Broncos Place WR KJ Hamler On IR
The latest injury suffered by KJ Hamler will lead to an extended absence. The Broncos wideout has been placed on IR, per a team announcement on Saturday. 
Hamler has been sidelined since Week 9 with a hamstring injury. Signs appeared to be pointing to a return in the near future, but a recent setback ruled him out for tomorrow’s game against the Ravens. The 23-year-old will now miss at least the next four weeks of the season, one which has only six contests remaining for Denver.
Hamler entered the league with considerable potential as a deep threat given his time at Penn State, but injuries have been a constant to begin his NFL career. The 2020 second-rounder has played in 23 games to date, logging a snap share above 50% only in his rookie season. His 14.8 yards-per-reception average demonstrates his vertical speed when healthy, but those times have been too few and far between for him to allow for much in the way of development.
With Hamler now sidelined, the Broncos have a league-leading 15 players on IR. Their WR corps has been significantly affected by the team’s overall injury woes, with Tim Patrick going down for the season and Jerry Jeudy missing the past two games. With the latter being a game-time decision for Week 13, Denver’s 18th-ranked passing attack could continue to be shorthanded. To little surprise given that uncertainty, Denver has officially signed wideout Brandon Johnson to the active roster after elevating the rookie from the practice squad for two consecutive weeks.
In more positive injury news, the Broncos used the open roster spot to activate running back Mike Boone. He has missed the past four games, but will now step into a rotational role in the team’s new-look backfield alongside veterans Latavius Murray and Marlon Mack. The former UDFA has averaged 5.5 yards per carry over the course of his career, albeit in a limited workload.
The 3-8 Broncos will likely be forced to use a ground-heavy attack against the Ravens on Sunday, given their banged-up WR room, though Baltimore’s defensive strength has come on the ground. With improvement on offense likely being needed in the coming weeks to avoid a coaching change, Hamler will play little (if any) part in it given today’s move.
Matthew Stafford Placed On IR; Rams To Start John Wolford
DECEMBER 3: Casting further doubt on Stafford’s 2022 return, the Rams announced on Saturday that their starter has been placed on IR. That will leave him sidelined until at least Week 17, by which point the defending champions will likely have been eliminated from postseason contention. With the open roster spot, the Rams have activated rookie linebacker Daniel Hardy from IR.
DECEMBER 2: Matthew Stafford is out of concussion protocol, but the Super Bowl-winning quarterback is not returning to the Rams’ lineup just yet. After Sean McVay said earlier this week it was unlikely Stafford played in Week 13, the Rams are sticking to those guns.
Stafford will sit for a second straight week and third time in four games. Rather than Bryce Perkins, who started in Week 12 against the Chiefs, the Rams will go with John Wolford against the Seahawks. Neck pain and leg numbness led Stafford into the protocol for the second time this season.
Rams caution with Stafford does not surprise. The sides agreed to a four-year, $160MM extension this offseason, and a shell of an offensive line has contributed to the defending Super Bowl champions’ slide. The Rams are 3-8 and making a run at finishing with the worst record by a defending Super Bowl champion — in a non-strike season — in NFL history. The prospect of Stafford, Aaron Donald and Cooper Kupp being shut down for the season remains in play.
Stafford, 34, has taken almost as many sacks in nine games this season (29) as he did during 17 games last year (30). A Rams line that has seen first- and second-stringers go down, with injuries ransacking the unit at every position save for right tackle, has contributed to a few of the team’s problems. L.A. ranks 31st in rushing yards, and were Stafford to come back, he would also be without his two highest-profile receivers. It does not look like Kupp will return from ankle surgery this season, and Allen Robinson‘s disappointing Rams debut is already over due to a foot injury.
Thus, a backup-laden offense will be in the hands of a backup quarterback. It is uncertain if it will stay that way through January, but Wolford is back in the mix for now. A one-time unlikely playoff starter, Wolford has two career regular-season starts. The Rams lost his 2022 start — in Week 10 against the Cardinals — but saw their longtime backup suffer a neck injury as well, leading to Perkins. A 2020 UDFA, Perkins finished with 100 passing yards and two interceptions in the Rams’ loss in Kansas City.
Coming into this season, Stafford had only missed time in one of his previous 12 campaigns. A back injury shut him down in 2019. The former No. 1 overall pick has played through numerous issues during his career, but the Rams have him in limbo for the time being.
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 12/2/22
Today’s only taxi squad update:
Cleveland Browns
- Released from practice squad IR (with injury settlement): OL Will Holden
Cowboys WR James Washington Back At Practice; Tyron Smith Nearing Return
DECEMBER 2: McCarthy confirmed the Cowboys’ Smith timeline Friday, indicating the team is hopeful the 12th-year blocker can return to practice next week, The Athletic’s Jon Machota tweets. Smith, 32, suffered the injury August 24. Should Smith show sufficient form in practice, the Cowboys are expected to reinstall him at his left tackle post.
NOVEMBER 30: Two key Cowboys IR moves could commence soon. Wide receiver James Washington returned to practice Wednesday, starting his 21-day activation clock. Tyron Smith‘s DFR transaction does not appear far off.
Mike McCarthy said Smith is close but not yet ready to practice, ESPN.com’s Todd Archer tweets. But the Cowboys are eyeing Week 14 for Smith’s return to work, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com adds. Smith has been out since late August because of a torn hamstring that required surgery.
Smith being designated for return next week would mandate a regular-season activation, as teams have 21 days from the DFR transaction to move a player back onto the 53-man roster. Only one team, the Steelers, has thus far let a player’s IR-return clock expire without an activation this season. But the Cowboys have consistently eyed a late-season Smith return.
[RELATED: PFR Week 13 Injured Reserve Return Tracker]
There will be no position drama when Smith is ready to come back. Jerry Jones put a stop to that recently, indicating during a 105.3 The Fan interview (via Archer, on Twitter) Tyler Smith would move back to guard once Tyron Smith was ready to play. Tyron Smith has been Dallas’ primary left tackle for 11 years. Despite frequent injury trouble, the former first-round pick — an All-Decade performer — has been one of the best in the game when available.
Tyron’s return would inject more optimism into this Cowboys operation, which has been the most promising Dallas squad since 2016. The team can slide Tyler Smith to left guard, and Jones does not anticipate any trouble for the first-round rookie in moving inside. Tyler Smith, however, was not running away with the guard competition against Connor McGovern during their training camp battle. Tyron Smith’s injury changed the team’s plans, and the Tulsa product has started every game back at his college position with Dallas.
The Cowboys have considerable insurance at left tackle, with Jason Peters also in the fold. Peters has since moved to guard but has not seen too much action in his age-40 season. He has been used as a sub and has gone through some games without seeing any time. Mostly recently, Peters did play 20 snaps against the Vikings. McGovern has been the Cowboys’ primary left guard starter. Still, Peters and Tyron Smith have a combined 17 Pro Bowls on their resume. Adding in Zack Martin‘s seven, the Cowboys have one of the most accomplished O-line contingents in modern NFL history. Tyron Smith’s return represents the final piece to the puzzle.
Circling back to Washington, he has missed the season because of a Jones fracture. The training camp foot injury forced Dallas to deploy an inexperienced set of CeeDee Lamb receiver complements early this season, but the team might have a veteran-laden group when Washington returns. The Cowboys have seen Michael Gallup begin to show his pre-injury form, and they are the frontrunners to sign Odell Beckham Jr. The high-profile free agent is set to visit Monday.
Signed to one-year deal worth the league minimum, Washington is no stranger to seeing his role reduced. The Steelers moved Chase Claypool ahead of him previously and did not re-sign him in free agency. Washington has not cleared 400 receiving yards in a season since 2019, when he worked mostly with college teammate Mason Rudolph. Given the Cowboys’ receiver situation and Washington’s injury hiatus, he likely will go a third straight season without 400 yards. But the fifth-year veteran could still be a valuable backup for Dallas.
Minor NFL Transactions: 12/1/22
Today’s minor moves:
New England Patriots
- Promoted: OL Bill Murray, K Tristan Vizcaino
The Patriots promoted two players as they prepare for their showdown with the Bills tonight. Murray was promoted to the active roster with a number of lineman questionable. Fortunately for the Patriots, both David Andrews and Trent Brown are active for tonight’s game, although Isaiah Wynn and Yodny Cajuste are inactive. Meanwhile, Vizcaino has been promoted to handle kickoff duties for New England. Nick Folk has struggled in the role since punter Jake Bailey went down with an injury, but Folk will still continue to be the team’s field goal and extra point kicker.