G Shane Grice has spent much of the season on the Bucs' active roster
The weekly massaging of the practice squad continued Tuesday at One Buccaneer Place as guard Shane Grice, released last Saturday from the active roster, was signed to that five-man unit.
The Buccaneers have made at least one move to the practice squad during each of the past five weeks and six of the last seven. The latest involved the addition of Grice and the subsequent release of cornerback Anthony Midget.
Most of the practice squad maneuvers have been prompted by various injuries, as the Bucs have sometimes had difficulty fielding enough players at particular positions for their midweek workouts and, in some cases, for the games on Sunday. Grice, in fact, was waived late last week only because the Bucs needed to activate cornerback Corey Ivy. Cornerback Donnie Abraham's back injury had made him a question mark for the team's game in Detroit.
Those two roster moves left the Bucs with still only four members on the practice squad, a good indication that another maneuver is forthcoming. The team rarely leaves a practice squad position open for long and may make another move depending on various team health issues.
On Tuesday, Abraham and linebacker Nate Webster (bruised ribs) were sent for MRI examinations to provide further information on their injuries. Results of those tests were not available on Tuesday evening, but Midget's release may indicate that Abraham's test were reassuring. The fifth spot on the practice squad could be used for a linebacker if Webster is deemed unable to practice for some period of time.
Grice, who played collegiately at Mississippi, was originally signed by the team as an undrafted rookie free agent on April 23. He was released on August 27 and spent time on Chicago's practice squad before being signed to the Bucs' active roster on September 26. He has been on the team's inactive list for each of the seven games since.
Midget was signed to the team's practice squad on November 6. He spent the past summer in the Buccaneers' training camp prior to being released on August 27. He also spent the 2000 season on Tampa Bay's practice squad after being released by the Atlanta Falcons, who drafted him in the fifth round that spring.
