The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will get a little extra help on both sides of the ball in Week 13.
On Friday, the Buccaneers activated cornerback Carlton Davis from injured reserve, clearing the way for him to see his first game action since he suffered a calf injury in Week Four. In addition, the Buccaneers signed wide receiver Breshad Perriman from their practice squad to the active roster, making him available to play on Sunday against the Falcons as well.
The Buccaneers did not have to make any corresponding moves on the 53-man roster because they had three open spots following the placement of guard Aaron Stinnie on injured reserve and the suspensions of wide receiver Antonio Brown and safety Mike Edwards. After Friday's moves, Tampa Bay currently has 52 players on the active roster.
Davis suffered his injury, which he described on Thursday as torn quad muscle, in a Week Four contest at New England and was placed on injured reserve. He returned to practice on November 24, opening a 21-day window in which the Buccaneers could activate him to the 53-man roster. Before his injury he started the first four games of the season and contributed 15 tackles, one interception and five passes defensed.
Davis is the second cornerback to return from injured reserve for the Buccaneers in the last three weeks. Sean Murphy-Bunting, who suffered a dislocated elbow early in the team's season-opening win against Dallas, was activated on November 22 and has played in the last two games. If Jamel Dean can overcome the shoulder injury that knocked him out of last Sunday's game in Indianapolis in the first quarter, the Buccaneers could suit up their intended trio of starting cornerbacks for the first time since Week One. Dean practiced all week but his availability for Sunday in Atlanta was referred to by Head Coach Bruce Arians as a "game time decision."
A second-round draft pick in 2018, Davis has played in 45 games with 44 starts over the past four seasons, recording 183 tackles, six interceptions, 46 passes defensed, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries. He led the entire NFL over the 2019-20 seasons combined with 37 passes defensed.
Perriman, who played for the Buccaneers in 2019, returned to the team on November 10, signing to the practice squad. He had remained on that unit for the past three weeks but had also played in two games after twice being elevated from the practice squad to be active on game day. However, the Bucs were out of elevation options for Perriman and were down a receiver following Thursday's suspension of Antonio Brown by the NFL.
Perriman caught two passes for 19 yards in Tampa Bay's Week 11 win over the New York Giants. In 2019, he saw action in 14 games and made four starts for the Buccaneers, contributing 36 receptions for 645 yards and six touchodwns. His particularly strong production in the season's final month after injuries took out Mike Evans and Chris Godwin earned him a free agency deal with the Jets in 2020, and he recorded another 30 catches for 505 yards and three touchdowns in New York. Perriman spent the first half of this season with the Chicago Bears but was released on November 5.
A former first-round pick by the Baltimore Ravens in 2016, Perriman has played in 65 games with 22 starts and has recorded 127 receptions for 2,085 yards and 14 touchdowns. He has an excellent career average of 16.4 yards per reception.
