Tampa Bay Buccaneers promote WR Shepard and LB Grier and place LB Dennis on IR

Due to injuries sustained by several new players in Week 4, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers made a series of roster moves on Tuesday, two days before their Thursday night game in Atlanta. Most notably, wide receiver Sterling Shepard and linebacker Antonio Grier were elevated to the active roster from the team’s practice squad, and linebacker SirVocea Dennis was placed on injured reserve.

Additionally, rookie linebacker Kalen DeLoach was added to the practice squad. The team still has one spot to fill on that 16-man unit. The Buccaneers previously waived defensive lineman Ben Stille on Tuesday.

Dennis suffered a shoulder injury in the Bucs’ win against Philadelphia on Sunday and was expected to miss several weeks. The receiving corps has recently been weakened by a hamstring injury suffered by rookie Jalen McMillan in practice last Friday and a concussion suffered by Trey Palmer against the Eagles. Additionally, rookie wide receiver Kameron Johnson is on the injury report with an ankle injury.

Shepard has already been called up from the practice squad in the last two games, and against the Eagles he played extensively after Palmer’s injury, completing three passes for 51 yards. Before joining the Buccaneers in Juen, Shepard played eight seasons for the New York Giants, collecting 372 receptions for 4,095 yards and 23 touchdowns. He was also a teammate of Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield for one season at the University of Oklahoma.

Grier signed with the Bucs as an undrafted free agent out of Arkansas. He also played five seasons for the nearby University of South Florida, accumulating 265 tackles, 10.0 sacks, 23.5 tackles for loss, five forced fumbles, four passes defended, three interceptions and two defensive in his six total collegiate campaigns touchdowns. His promotion gives the Bucs a fourth off-ball linebacker as he joins JJ Russell as a reserve behind starters Lavonte David and KJ Britt.

Dennis played in the Buccaneers’ first four games, splitting snaps with Britt and generally playing in the expected passing situations. So far this season he has 20 tackles, one tackle for loss and one sack.

DeLoach entered training camp with the Buccaneers after signing as an undrafted free agent out of Florida State in May. He appeared in two preseason games and contributed five tackles and two additional stops on special teams. For the Seminoles, he played in 55 games and finished with 212 tackles, 11.0 sacks, two forced fumbles, two interceptions and 13 passes defended. He also excelled on special teams.