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The Cincinnati Bengals have announced the team’s practice squad.
After constructing the initial 53-man roster on Saturday, four draft picks were omitted, three being cut and one going to Injured Reserve. One of those rookies, J.J. Dielman was claimed on waivers by the Los Angeles Rams. He’ll now join their 53-man roster. Another player who was cut on Saturday, undrafted rookie safety Demetrious Cox, was claimed by the Carolina Panthers and will join their 53-man roster.
22 of the 23 players waived by the Bengals on Saturday were eligible to join the team’s (up to) 10-man practice squad. Take away Dielman and Cox and that’s 20. The Bengals are able to sign any player who cleared waivers to the practice squad, including players from other teams.
The practice squad can still change at any time, but this is the initial list of players who made the cut.
- LB Brandon Bell (rookie, Penn State)
- K Jake Elliott (rookie, Memphis)
- OT Kent Perkins (rookie, Texas)
- DT Josh Tupou (rookie, Colorado)
- WR Kermit Whitfield (rookie, Florida State)
- DT DeShawn Williams (second-year player, Clemson)
- HB Jarveon Williams (rookie, Texas-San Antonio)
- S Brandon Wilson (rookie, Houston)
There are only eight players currently on the practice squad, meaning the Bengals can add two more at any point. All players on the current practice squad spent the summer with the Bengals.
Bell, Perkins, Tupou, Whitfield and Jarveon Williams are all undrafted rookies. Elliott and Wilson were 2017 draft picks. And, DeShawn Williams joined the Bengals in 2015 as an undrafted free agent.
According to a report, the Bengals are also signing former Wisconsin Badgers cornerback Sojourn Shelton to the practice squad. The team has not yet announced that move.
Update: The Bengals have officially announced the addition of cornerback Shelton Sojourn as well as guard Cole Tanner to the practice squad. The practice squad now is full with 10 players. Both Tanner and Sojourn spent the summer with the Cardinals, Tanner as a second year player and Sojourn as a rookie.
Here’s the updated practice squad:
Bengals practice squad
| # | NAME | POS. | HT. | WT. | AGE | EXP. | COLLEGE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | NAME | POS. | HT. | WT. | AGE | EXP. | COLLEGE |
| 52 | Bell, Brandon | LB | 6-1 | 229 | 22 | R | Penn State |
| 3 | Elliott, Jake | K | 5-9 | 167 | 22 | R | Memphis |
| 78 | Perkins, Kent | OT | 6-5 | 320 | 22 | R | Texas |
| 68 | Tupou, Josh | DT | 6-3 | 350 | 23 | R | Colorado |
| 13 | Whitfield, Kermit | WR | 5-8 | 184 | 23 | R | Florida State |
| 69 | Williams, DeShawn | DT | 6-1 | 295 | 24 | 2 | Clemson |
| 39 | Williams, Jarveon | HB | 5-9 | 202 | 22 | R | Texas- San Antonio |
| 40 | Wilson, Brandon | S | 5-11 | 200 | 23 | R | Houston |
| Sojourn, Shelton | CB | 5-9 | 168 | R | Wisconsin | ||
| Toner, Cole | G | 6-7 | 300 | 2 | Harvard |