The Tampa Bay Buccaneers activated punter Jack Browning from the practice squad on Saturday, making him eligible to play in the team's Week 16 road game against the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday night.
The Buccaneers also announced on Saturday that tight end Cade Otton has been downgraded on the injury report to out due to his knee ailment. Otton did not travel with the team to Dallas.
The NFL introduced the practice squad elevation option in 2020, allowing teams to activate up to two practice squad players for each game. The elevation of Browning gives the Buccaneers 54 available men to play against the Cowboys at AT&T Stadium. They will be able to keep 48 of those players active for the game, naming six inactives prior to kickoff.
Each player on the practice squad can be elevated up to three times during the regular season and an unlimited amount of times in the postseason. After the game, elevated players automatically revert to the practice squad without having to pass through waivers. This is the third elevation for Browning.
Browning will handle the Buccaneers' punting duties for the third week in a row after the waiver of Trenton Gill on December 2. In his two games so far, he has punted three times for 128 yards with a long of 49, compiling a 42.7-yard gross average and a 32.7-yard net average. Browning has also handled kickoff duties, hitting eight of his 14 kicks into the end zone to force five touchbacks, and has been the holder on 12 successful placekicks, including four field goals and eight extra points.
Browning is the Buccaneers' third punter in 2024, following Gill and Jake Camarda. If he is to continue in that role for the remainder of the regular season he will need to be added to the active roster after this week.
The practice squad elevation option was introduced as part of the new collective bargaining agreement in 2020. The new rule was something of a compromise, as it did not expand the active rosters beyond 53 players but did give teams a few more options on game days, particularly in regard to dealing with injuries.
