The youth movement at One Buccaneer Place continued today as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers announced they have placed defensive end Tim Crowder on injured reserve and promoted strong safety Ahmad Black to the active roster from the practice squad.

"We're doing the prudent thing and putting him on IR, making sure everything's alright," Bucs head coach Raheem Morris said on Friday afternoon. "He doesn't have a history or anything like that."

Crowder played in 10 games this season for the Buccaneers, recording 14 tackles, two tackles for loss and six quarterback pressures. In his three seasons with the team, Crowder has played in 41 games with 13 starts, registering 103 total tackles and 6.5 sacks. Crowder suffered a head injury in last week’s loss to the Carolina Panthers.

"It's a great opportunity for Ahmad Black," Morris said. "[He's] stepping into the football team and [he'll] have an opportunity to put a helmet on this week and play. He's worked his way into this role and I actually stood in front of the team today and was able to tell those guys that I was proud of him and for what reasons and that he did it the right way."

Black originally entered the NFL as the Buccaneers' fifth-round selection (151st overall) in this year's draft and has been on the team's practice squad for the first 13 weeks of the season.

A former star at Lakeland High School and the University of Florida, Black came into the 2011 season with high hopes but saw the majority of his preseason derailed after being injured early in Tampa Bay’s first preseason game against Kansas City with a high ankle sprain.

Growing up in Polk County as a big Bucs fan, Black told PewterReport.com earlier this season it was a dream come true to be drafted by his home team. Black was featured in this month’s digital magazine In The Lab feature.

Morris updated the media on other secondary injury news, including the status of starting CB Aqib Talib and backup S Larry Asante.

Talib did not participate in Friday's practice because of the hamstring injury sustained against Carolina in the first quarter.

"More than likely it's not looking good for him this week," Morris said of Talib. "But he definitely felt better [and] moved around better out there today. I'm not talking about running, but talking about his movement and his feel and some of those things. Hopefully we'll get him back soon."

Asante is also dealing with a hamstring injury from this week in practice and it's "more than likely he'll be doubtful," Morris said.

CB Myron Lewis will also be active for Sunday's game in Jacksonville after not dressing last week against Carolina. The head coach said he's hoping some new faces and different personnel packages will provide a spark to a struggling defense.

"Especially at some of those positions. They come out and they're fresh, they're young, they're hungry and they have an opportunity to go out there and play."

Eric Horchy contributed to this report.