The Buccaneers announced Tuesday afternoon that they have placed CB Anthony Gaitor on Injured Reserve/Designated For Return and promoted LB Jacob Cutrera from the practice squad to the active 53-man roster.
Gaitor has been sidelined with a hamstring injury since the second week of the preseason, but the second-year corner out of FIU returned to practice Monday, causing many to believe his return was imminent. Including Gaitor, the Bucs have seven corner backs on their roster, with Gaitor inactive due to the hamstring injury for the first quarter of the regular season and Myron Lewis listed as inactive two out of the four games played. With Gaitor officially on IR/Return and Eric Wright who has been hampered by a lingering back issue and suffered from a head injury against Washington, the Bucs may call upon one of two rookies, DB Keith Tandy or CB Leonard Johnson to be ready to go.
Cutrera entered the league as an undrafted free agent out of LSU and signed with Jacksonville after the 2010 draft. Cutrera has played in 16 career games over the last two seasons, including eight with the Bucs last season. Cutrera is a strong special teams contributor, recording nine special teams tackles in his career. During training camp and the preseason, Cutrera used his long frame to wrap up players and is very aggressive on tackles. With the selections of linebackers Lavonte David in the second and Najee Goode in the fifth rounds of April’s draft, there wasn’t enough room for Cutrera on the 53-man roster until now.
Tampa Bay also announced Tuesday, that they have signed cornerback LeQuan Lewis and defensive end Aaron Morgan to the Bucs’ practice squad.
Lewis comes to Tampa Bay after spending brief stints on several teams since the summer. Undrafted out of Arizona State, Lewis was signed by Tennessee in July 2011, but was released at the end of training camp and spent all of last season out of football completely. This summer, Lewis was signed and released first by Oakland, then the Jets who placed Lewis on their practice squad September 4th. A week later, New York released Lewis and the former Sun Devil signed with Dallas the following day. After recording one tackle in three games, the Cowboys released Lewis after the Monday Night loss to Chicago last week.
Undrafted out of UL-Monroe, Morgan signed by Jacksonville immediately following the 2010 draft and played in seven games for the Jaguars as a rookie. Last season, Morgan suffered a season ending shoulder injury in September and was placed on IR. This year, Morgan saw action in four of the first five games before being released last Friday in order for Jacksonville to sign former Buccaneer Michael Spurlock to replace the injured Laurent Robinson at wide receiver.
Under the new IR/Designated for return rule, Gaitor is eligible to practice after being on IR for at least six weeks from the date he is placed on Injured Reserve. Gaitor can then return to the active roster at least eight weeks from the date he is placed on Reserve, which would be the beginning of December, just in time for the Buccaneer’s matchup against Philadelphia, when the 10th anniversary Super Bowl team will be honored.
Gaitor has been sidelined with a hamstring injury since the second week of the preseason, but the second-year corner out of FIU returned to practice Monday, causing many to believe his return was imminent. Including Gaitor, the Bucs have seven corner backs on their roster, with Gaitor inactive due to the hamstring injury for the first quarter of the regular season and Myron Lewis listed as inactive two out of the four games played. With Gaitor officially on IR/Return and Eric Wright who has been hampered by a lingering back issue and suffered from a head injury against Washington, the Bucs may call upon one of two rookies, DB Keith Tandy or CB Leonard Johnson to be ready to go.
Cutrera entered the league as an undrafted free agent out of LSU and signed with Jacksonville after the 2010 draft. Cutrera has played in 16 career games over the last two seasons, including eight with the Bucs last season. Cutrera is a strong special teams contributor, recording nine special teams tackles in his career. During training camp and the preseason, Cutrera used his long frame to wrap up players and is very aggressive on tackles. With the selections of linebackers Lavonte David in the second and Najee Goode in the fifth rounds of April’s draft, there wasn’t enough room for Cutrera on the 53-man roster until now.
Tampa Bay also announced Tuesday, that they have signed cornerback LeQuan Lewis and defensive end Aaron Morgan to the Bucs’ practice squad.
Lewis comes to Tampa Bay after spending brief stints on several teams since the summer. Undrafted out of Arizona State, Lewis was signed by Tennessee in July 2011, but was released at the end of training camp and spent all of last season out of football completely. This summer, Lewis was signed and released first by Oakland, then the Jets who placed Lewis on their practice squad September 4th. A week later, New York released Lewis and the former Sun Devil signed with Dallas the following day. After recording one tackle in three games, the Cowboys released Lewis after the Monday Night loss to Chicago last week.
Undrafted out of UL-Monroe, Morgan signed by Jacksonville immediately following the 2010 draft and played in seven games for the Jaguars as a rookie. Last season, Morgan suffered a season ending shoulder injury in September and was placed on IR. This year, Morgan saw action in four of the first five games before being released last Friday in order for Jacksonville to sign former Buccaneer Michael Spurlock to replace the injured Laurent Robinson at wide receiver.
Under the new IR/Designated for return rule, Gaitor is eligible to practice after being on IR for at least six weeks from the date he is placed on Injured Reserve. Gaitor can then return to the active roster at least eight weeks from the date he is placed on Reserve, which would be the beginning of December, just in time for the Buccaneer’s matchup against Philadelphia, when the 10th anniversary Super Bowl team will be honored.
COMMENTS
October 9, 2012
7:54 pm