Spencer Schnell's tenure on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' practice squad lasted all of two days. And that's a good thing for him.
On Wednesday, the Buccaneers signed Schnell from that squad to their active roster, making the rookie from Illinois State eligible to play in Saturday's game against Houston. The Buccaneers continue to rework their receiving corps in the wake of hamstring injuries to Mike Evans, Chris Godwin and Scotty Miller.
In fact, the Buccaneers created a spot on the 53-man roster for Schnell by placing Evans on injured reserve, where he joins Miller, who went to IR on Tuesday to make room for newly-signed wideout Cyril Grayson. Tampa Bay has also placed safety Jordan Whitehead – another hamstring victim – on injured reserve, meaning they currently have one more open spot on the roster.
After promoting Schnell, the Bucs restored their practice squad to the 10-man limit by signing rookie defensive back Herb Miller. An undrafted free agent out of Florida Atlantic, Miller went to training camp with the Chiefs this past summer.
The addition of Schnell now gives the Buccaneers five healthy options at receiver heading into Saturday's game at Raymond James Stadium. In addition to Schnell and Grayson, the Buccaneers still have Breshad Perriman, Justin Watson and Ishmael Hyman, the lattermost of whom was just promoted from the practice squad last week.
The Bucs may have the numbers at the position, but they certainly don't have the same amount of NFL experience they had there just a few weeks ago. Those five receivers have a combined 93 career regular-season receptions; Evans and Godwin combined for 153 catches this year.
As noted when he returned to the AdventHealth Training Center on Monday, Schnell (5-8, 173) originally signed with the Buccaneers as an undrafted free agent in May after he excelled on a tryout contract in the team's rookie mini-camp. During the preseason, he caught seven passes for 119 yards, an average of 17.0 yards per reception. At Illinois State, he caught 175 passes for 2,030 yards and 14 touchdowns. He also has extensive punt return experience.
