Today’s practice squad transactions:
Baltimore Ravens
Cincinnati Bengals
New Orleans Saints
New York Giants
New York Jets
Philadelphia Eagles
Pittsburgh Steelers
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Today’s practice squad moves:
Arizona Cardinals
Buffalo Bills
Carolina Panthers
Cincinnati Bengals
Dallas Cowboys
Denver Broncos
Las Vegas Raiders
New York Jets
Philadelphia Eagles
Seattle Seahawks
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Tennessee Titans
Here are Tuesday’s minor moves:
Buffalo Bills
Carolina Panthers
Cincinnati Bengals
Cleveland Browns
Denver Broncos
Kansas City Chiefs
New Orleans Saints
Philadelphia Eagles
Seattle Seahawks
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Tennessee Titans
Prior to waiving Stevenson, the Bills activated the second-year wide receiver from IR, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets. The procedural move would allow Stevenson — should he clear waivers — to return to Buffalo on a practice squad agreement. This will still count toward Buffalo’s eight injury activations, but the team still has six remaining. A 2021 sixth-round pick, Stevenson combined for 21 punt- and kick-return reps as a rookie.
The Eagles placed Robert Quinn on IR on Tuesday but will have a reinforcement in Robinson, a 2021 Vikings fourth-round pick. The Eagles signed Robinson off the Vikings’ practice squad in mid-September. He has yet to play in an NFL game.
A former franchise-tagged player, Harris was unable to carve out much of a role in Denver. The ex-Vikings and Eagles starter only played in three games for the Broncos, who signed him just before the season. Despite having a six-INT season on his resume, the 31-year-old defender did not play a defensive snap with the Broncos.
Nearly three months after breaking Ken Riley‘s record for games played as a Bengal, Kevin Huber is now available on the waiver wire. The Bengals moved on from the longest-tenured punter in team history Monday.
Huber has not played since Week 9. The Bengals had promoted offseason challenger Drue Chrisman from their practice squad in mid-November, and the younger specialist has handled punts over the past three games. The organization will fully pivot to the younger specialist, though special teams coordinator Darrin Simmons said (via Bengals.com’s Geoff Hobson, on Twitter) the prospect of Huber sticking around on the practice squad — assuming he clears waivers — as a mentor is in play.
“Kevin was our punter for a very long time,” owner Mike Brown said. “We appreciated every moment he was here. He has been a steadying force for us, an excellent player and a good person. Any football team would be blessed to have him for the length of time we did.”
Huber, 37, is a Cincinnati native who suited up for the Bearcats before being drafted by the Bengals in the 2009 fifth round. The Bengals and Huber agreed on five contracts since, most recently partnering up on a one-year, $1.8MM deal in May. A 2014 Pro Bowler, Huber played 138 straight games from that season until his demotion this year.
Although Lee Johnson‘s 259 career games surpass Huber’s, the latter has long been the longest-tenured punter in Bengals history. Only Sam Koch and Dustin Colquitt punted in more games for one team this century. Huber also served as the Bengals’ field goal holder throughout his stay with the team.
While teams almost never carry two punters on their active roster, Chrisman has been a gameday elevation during this audition of sorts. Chrisman, 25, caught on with the Bengals as a 2021 UDFA. Huber beat Chrisman out for the job last season and this year out of training camp, but the Ohio State product is averaging a strong 51.2 yards per punt. In his nine-game run this season, Huber was at 43.2 — his lowest figure since 2010. Chrisman does not have enough punts to qualify, but his 51.2-yard average would rank second in the NFL.
Additionally, the Bengals are not activating kick returner Brandon Wilson from the reserve/PUP list. Sidelined since suffering a torn ACL in November 2021, Wilson will revert to season-ending IR. The Bengals designated the young returner for return from the PUP list in November but needed to activate him by Monday in order to avoid this outcome.
Wilson served as Cincinnati’s primary kick returner from 2019-21; he notched kick-return TDs in 2019 and ’20. The Bengals have three injury activations remaining and will keep them in their pocket rather than use one on the sixth-year special-teamer. Running backs Chris Evans and Trayveon Williams have seen time returning kicks this season.
DECEMBER 4: The Bengals announced that Chase is indeed active, as expected, which will give the Bengals both members of their 1-2 receiving duo once again. Mixon, however, will be inactive for the second consecutive game.
DECEMBER 2: Chase is on track to make his return against the Chiefs, Taylor said Friday. Mixon, however, remains in concussion protocol. The Bengals are not ruling out their well-paid running back, but he is running out of time to make a return in this key intraconference game.
NOVEMBER 30: Although Week 12 loomed as Ja’Marr Chase‘s comeback window, the second-year Bengals receiver indicated pregame discomfort. Chase said (via NFL.com’s Cameron Wolfe, on Twitter) he asked Zac Taylor for one more week to move to 100%.
The Bengals, naturally, obliged and beat the Titans without Chase or Joe Mixon. They will face the AFC-leading Chiefs in Week 13. Chase, who fared rather well in the Bengals’ two Chiefs matchups last season, said he suffered a hairline fracture in his hip against the Saints in Week 6. While he played through the issue in Week 7 against the Falcons, the Bengals shut him down soon after.
No hip labrum tear occurred, Chase added (via cleveland.com’s Andrew Gillis and ESPN.com’s Ben Baby; Twitter links), but the fracture happened, confusingly, as he faked being hurt while scoring the first of his two touchdowns against New Orleans. The Offensive Rookie of the Year said he has no pain in his hip presently. Chase detailing his injury to this degree certainly points to a long-awaited return.
The Bengals are 3-1 without their top weapon but rocketed to Super Bowl LVI due to major contributions from last year’s No. 5 overall pick. Chase broke Jerry Butler‘s 42-year-old single-game record for receiving yards by a rookie, compiling 266 in Cincinnati’s Week 17 win over Kansas City last season. He added six catches for 54 yards and a touchdown in the Bengals’ comeback win in the AFC championship game.
This season, Chase sits eighth in the NFL with 86.4 receiving yards per game. Tee Higgins has picked up the slack for Cincinnati recently. The third-year wideout has 16 receptions for 262 yards and two touchdowns over the past two games. The Bengals are amid a stretch in which they face either a division leader or a team with a winning record in six of their final seven games; having Chase back would certainly help the defending AFC champions’ cause.
Here are the league’s minor transactions leading into the Sunday-slate of Week 13 games:
Atlanta Falcons
Baltimore Ravens
Cincinnati Bengals
Cleveland Browns
Dallas Cowboys
Green Bay Packers
Houston Texans
Indianapolis Colts
Kansas City Chiefs
Las Vegas Raiders
Los Angeles Chargers
Los Angeles Rams
Miami Dolphins
Minnesota Vikings
San Francisco 49ers
Seattle Seahawks
Tennessee Titans
Washington Commanders
Today’s practice squad moves:
Chicago Bears
Cincinnati Bengals
Cleveland Browns
Denver Broncos
Detroit Lions
Green Bay Packers
New Orleans Saints
New York Giants
New York Jets
Philadelphia Eagles
Pittsburgh Steelers
San Francisco 49ers
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Tennessee Titans
The league’s minor moves and standard gameday elevations for Week 12:
Arizona Cardinals
Atlanta Falcons
Baltimore Ravens
Carolina Panthers
Chicago Bears
Cincinnati Bengals
Cleveland Browns
Denver Broncos
Green Bay Packers
Houston Texans
Kansas City Chiefs
Las Vegas Raiders
Los Angeles Chargers
Los Angeles Rams
New York Jets
San Francisco 49ers
Seattle Seahawks
Tennessee Titans
Washington Commanders
Today’s taxi squad moves:
Arizona Cardinals
Cincinnati Bengals
Indianapolis Colts
Kansas City Chiefs
Los Angeles Rams
Pittsburgh Steelers
Here are Tuesday’s minor moves:
Arizona Cardinals
Cincinnati Bengals
Denver Broncos
Indianapolis Colts
New York Giants
Seattle Seahawks
Tennessee Titans
Washington Commanders
The Bengals both designated Prince for return from IR and activated him Monday. This marks the second time this year the defending AFC champions have used one of their injury activations on a player only to waive him a day later. This first happened with Kareem, who then moved to the Bengals’ practice squad ahead of this Colts poaching. A former Dolphins sixth-rounder, Prince played in 15 Bengals games last season and started four. He has not played this year. It will be somewhat interesting if the Bengals keep Prince via a P-squad agreement, provided no waiver claims emerge.
Eifler, Rhattigan and Shudak have three weeks from Tuesday to be activated. The Seahawks, Titans and Commanders had seen their number of activation-eligible players pile up in recent weeks. Each of these teams have five injury activations remaining.
The Titans waived Week 11 kicker fill-in Josh Lambo on Monday. Primary Tennessee kicker Randy Bullock missed the game but is not on IR. Bullock suffered a calf injury during pregame warmups in Week 10. Shudak, a rookie UDFA out of Iowa who has spent the season on the Titans’ reserve/PUP list, would stand to represent insurance this week.