Texans Activate DE Mario Addison From IR
Currently tied for seventh in the NFL for sacks, the Texans will add veteran pass rusher Mario Addison to their defensive line, according to Aaron Wilson of Pro Football Network. The 35-year-old has seen impressive success since turning 30 and will look to continue defying time this year despite missing the first four contests of the season. 
Addison is one of the league’s better success stories after going undrafted out of Troy in 2011. He bounced around a couple teams before he eventually landed in Carolina, where he would enjoy most of his career success in just over seven seasons with the Panthers. In 2020, the Bills signed Addison to a three-year contract where he continued to be productive in a lesser role. Despite only starting seven games during his time in Buffalo, Addison accumulated 12.0 sacks, 15 quarterback hits, and 15.0 tackles for loss over two seasons.
Addison signed with the Texans shortly after the draft, joining fellow ex-Bills veteran edge rusher Jerry Hughes in joining the rebuilding team on a two-year deal. The Texans placed Addison on IR with a groin injury, designating him to return just days ago this week.
Hughes has led the Texans in sacks so far this year with 4.0, while the younger 25-year-olds, Rasheem Green and Jonathan Greenard, sit behind him with 2.5 and 1.5 sacks, respectively. Addison’s addition comes just in time as Wilson reports that Greenard has been ruled out this weekend due to an ankle injury. The gameplan will likely entail Hughes and Green starting the game as the Texans ease Addison back into play.
Teams can make eight activations per season from their injured lists, be it the injured reserve, physically unable to perform, or non-football injury lists. This will be not only the team’s first activation but the league’s, as well. The Texans will have seven activations remaining. They currently have rookie linebacker Christian Harris designated for return, while tight end Teagan Quitoriano and cornerback Tavierre Thomas are both eligible for activation if Houston decides to go that route.
Titans Place WR Treylon Burks On IR
Treylon Burks will be sidelined for at least the next four weeks. The Titans rookie wideout has been placed on injured reserve, according to Jim Wyatt of the team’s website.
The first-round rookie was injured during the fourth quarter of last Sunday’s win over the Colts. Burks was carted off the field and was later diagnosed with a turf toe injury. He had already been ruled out for this weekend, but the team is now sidelining him through the end of the month.
Following a standout career at Arkansas that saw him earn first-team All-SEC in 2021, Burks was selected with the 18th-overall pick in this year’s draft…the selection the Titans acquired after dealing A. J. Brown to the Eagles. Burks was relatively productive in his first two games, hauling in seven of his 11 targets for 102 yards. While he saw an uptick in offensive snaps during Week 3 and Week 4, he was limited to only three catches between the two games.
Veteran receiver Robert Woods will still guide the receivers room, but the team will have to dig into their depth chart for some reinforcement. Tennessee is also rostering the likes of Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, Cody Hollister, and rookie Kyle Philips, with veteran Josh Gordon among the WRs on the Titans practice squad.
Meanwhile, the Titans have activated linebacker Monty Rice from the PUP to the active roster. The 2021 third-round pick had 30 tackles in 10 games (four starts) as a rookie, but his season ended early thanks to an ankle injury. He landed on PUP to start the 2022 campaign. The Titans also promoted receiver Dez Fitzpatrick and linebacker Joe Schobert from the practice squad.
Commanders Activate RB Brian Robinson To 53-Man Roster
Brian Robinson is in line to make his NFL debut tomorrow. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reports (on Twitter) that the Commanders have activated the rookie running back from the non-football injury list. Robinson returned to practice earlier this week.
The third-round rookie suffered multiple gunshot wounds in an attempted carjacking at the end of August. The gunshots hit his hip and knee, though there was no serious damage to his ligaments, tendons, or bones, leading to optimism that Robinson would be back this season. The RB quickly provided some optimism when he was seen doing footwork and agility drills in the middle of September. His stay on PUP ended up being a short one, and after opening his practice window earlier this week, Washington will now welcome the rook to the 53-man roster.
Robinson was impressive through the spring and in training camp, leading some to wonder if he could be in line for first-team reps. The rookie saw a significant workload early on in the preseason, and he joined many of the team’s bona fide starters on the sideline for the team’s preseason finale.
It will be interesting to see how much work Robinson gets in a crowded backfield that also features Antonio Gibson and J.D. McKissic. After topping 1,000 yards from scrimmage in each of his first two seasons, Gibson has earned the start in each of Washington’s first four games this year. After hitting 130 yards from scrimmage in Week 1, Gibson has been limited to only 144 offensive yards over the past three weeks. He snap count has also continued to drop, leading some to wonder if he could be eyeing a reduced role with Robinson back in the lineup. McKissic, meanwhile, continues to serve in his standard pass-catching role, hauling in 17 catches through the first four weeks.
“You’ve got a good group of backs that rotate through and you try to find the matchups that you can exploit,” Commanders coach Ron Rivera said recently (via ESPN’s John Keim).
Robinson had a successful career at Alabama, including a breakout 2021 campaign where he finished with 1,343 rushing yards and 296 receiving yards. Thanks to his performance, he ended up being the sixth RB off the draft board when he was selected by Washington in the third round (No. 98) of this year’s draft.
Raiders Sign LB Blake Martinez To Active Roster
The Raiders are bringing up permanent help at linebacker, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, signing recently acquired practice squad linebacker Blake Martinez to the active roster today. Martinez had visited a couple weeks ago with the Ravens and Raiders but didn’t end up officially signing with Las Vegas until offered a practice squad spot just three days ago. 
Martinez is a former fourth-round pick for the Packers who is a straight tackling-machine. In his sophomore season, Martinez tied with Preston Brown and Joe Schobert for the league-lead in total tackles with 144. The next year he repeated the effort with 144 tackles and improved on those seasons with 155 in 2019 and 151 in 2020, despite not leading the league in any of those following seasons. He also is an adept playmaker behind the line of scrimmage, totaling 13.0 sacks, 18 quarterback hits, and 39.0 tackles for loss over his career.
After playing out his rookie contract in Green Bay, Martinez signed a three-year contract with the Giants in free agency. Unfortunately, Martinez suffed a torn ACL in the second year of his new contract, landing him on injured reserve. The Giants surprisingly decided to cut the veteran linebacker despite his agreeing to take a pay cut earlier in the offseason. Perhaps even more surprising is how long it’s taken him to find a new home.
The Raiders have brought in Martinez likely due to the recent absences of Pro Bowl starter Denzel Perryman. The former Hurricane has failed to play a full game this season. Perryman was carted off the field in a Week 1 matchup against his former team, the Chargers, and sat out the next two weeks recovering from an ankle injury. In his first game back this past Sunday, Perryman was forced to leave the game early after sustaining a concussion. With Perryman being mostly absent so far in the 2022 season, Las Vegas will hope that Martinez can, at the very least, fill in until he can return.
To make room for Martinez on the 53-man roster, Las Vegas moved another recently acquired player on injured reserve. According to Rapoport, offensive tackle Justin Herron, traded from New England on September 21, tore his ACL in practice yesterday and will be out for the remainder of the year. Herron got some productive snaps in his first game appearance as a Raider last weekend, but it seems he’ll have to wait quite a bit to make a second impression.
In another related move, the Raiders filled Martinez’s practice squad slot with veteran wide receiver Albert Wilson.
Minor NFL Transactions: 10/7/22
The league’s minor roster moves for today:
Cleveland Browns
- Waived: T Elijah Nkansah (off IR)
Las Vegas Raiders
- Waived: WR Tyron Johnson
Seattle Seahawks
- Placed on IR: LB Darryl Johnson
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 10/7/22
Today’s practice squad moves not covered in other posts:
Atlanta Falcons
- Signed: DT Christopher Hinton
- Placed on practice squad/IR: DT Derrick Tangelo
Jets OL Duane Brown, DE Vinny Curry Return To Practice
OCTOBER 7: Brown looks ready to be the Jets’ first IR activation this season. The 15th-year tackle said he is “good to go” for a Week 5 debut against the Dolphins, via the Associated Press’ Dennis Waszak Jr. (on Twitter). Robert Saleh said Brown would be a game-time decision. The Jets would need to move Brown off IR by Saturday afternoon’s deadline to give them the chance to start or sit the veteran. All signs point to that happening.
OCTOBER 5: The Jets will soon be getting some help on both sides of the ball. The team announced that they’ve designated offensive tackle Duane Brown and defensive end Vinny Curry to return from injured reserve.
Curry signed with the Jets prior to the 2021 season, but he missed his first season in New York after getting diagnosed with a rare blood disorder. He re-upped with the organization this offseason but a hamstring injury delayed his return to the field. During his last two healthy seasons with Philly in 2019 and 2020, he collected eight sacks in 27 games.
Brown landed on injured reserve right before Week 1 after suffering a shoulder injury in practice. The veteran was originally brought in to replace Mekhi Becton, who was previously lost for the season with a knee injury. The team later lost George Fant, whose versatility was key at the start of the season, to a knee injury that will keep him off the field until late November. Once Brown is ready to return to the lineup, he’ll provide some stability to what has been an uncertain offensive line.
The team did get some good news on the injury front regarding Max Mitchell, who was carted off the field during Sunday’s win over the Steelers. According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport (on Twitter), the rookie lineman avoided a season-ending knee injury. Mitchell suffered a “dislocation,” however, and he’s set to miss a handful of weeks.
Thanks to the rotating chairs on the OL, Mitchell’s injury means guard Alijah Vera-Tucker will likely continue to start at offensive tackle for the time being. Assuming Brown isn’t ready to go this weekend, the team will have to reach further into their bag at OT, with Conor McDermott, Cedric Ogbuehi, and Mike Remmers all options to start (per ESPN’s Rich Cimini on Twitter).
Lions Waive K Austin Seibert
Michael Badgley‘s Week 4 showing with the Bears may be leading to their NFC North rival landing a new full-time kicker. Days after Badgley’s Detroit arrival, the Lions are waiving Austin Seibert, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets.
The Lions used Seibert as their kicker at points in 2021 — prior to his season-ending injury — and this season. Seibert kicked in Detroit’s first three games, before another injury led him to miss Week 4.
Badgley is on Detroit’s practice squad, but that status will soon change. The Lions added him to their taxi squad shortly after the Bears cut ties with him. Chicago deployed Badgley as a fill-in leg for Cairo Santos, who missed Week 4 due to personal reasons. Santos returned to the team this week, leading the Bears to go with their multiyear kicker and jettison Badgley. The Lions are doing the opposite.
Seibert, who began his career with the Browns in 2019, has not gone through a full season since that rookie campaign. The Browns moved on from him early in the 2020 season, and after the Oklahoma product landed an opportunity with the Bengals, Cincinnati drafted Evan McPherson last year. That led to Seibert being waived and the Lions claiming him.
Seibert missed two field goals in his most recent outing — a 28-25 Lions loss to the Vikings — including a final-minute 54-yarder Dan Campbell admitted was the wrong choice soon after. Badgley went 4-for-4 on field goal tries during the Bears’ loss to the Giants on Sunday.
Raiders To Sign WR Albert Wilson
Several weeks after his Vikings release, Albert Wilson has secured a deal elsewhere. The Raiders reached an agreement with the veteran wide receiver Friday, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. It is a practice squad deal, Vincent Bonsignore of the Las Vegas Review-Journal tweets.
The Vikings signed Wilson midway through the offseason but did not see enough from the seven-year veteran to reserve a 53-man roster spot for him. The 5-foot-9 pass catcher will attempt to catch on as a backup in Las Vegas.
The Raiders will be Wilson’s fourth team. He broke through as a supporting-caster for the Alex Smith-era Chiefs and parlayed that production into a nice free agency payday with the Dolphins, who gave him a three-year, $24MM deal in 2018. That contract was set to expire after the 2020 season, but when Wilson opted out of that campaign due to COVID-19 concerns, the deal tolled to 2021. Miami did not opt to bring Wilson back this year, leading him to Minnesota.
Wilson, 30, topped 450 receiving yards in two of his Chiefs seasons, and he scored four touchdowns during Ryan Tannehill‘s final Dolphins slate (2018). Wilson reached that total despite missing nine games that season, however, and did not produce much after coming back from his opt-out year. The Georgia State alum caught 25 passes for 213 yards in 2021.
Las Vegas has a firmly established passing-game hierarchy, one fronted by Davante Adams, Darren Waller and Hunter Renfrow. The team has, however, seen surprising production from ex-Wilson Dolphins teammate Mack Hollins, who topped 150 yards in the Raiders’ Week 3 loss in Tennessee. Vegas, which cut ex-Wilson Chiefs teammate Demarcus Robinson after signing him this offseason, has Keelan Cole and Tyron Johnson on its 53-man roster as backups.
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 10/6/22
Today’s practice squad moves:
Los Angeles Chargers
- Signed: K Taylor Bertolet
Minnesota Vikings
- Signed: LB Ryan Connelly
Tennessee Titans
- Signed: LB Wyatt Ray