Abbrederis, Crockett, Ringo join practice squad
Jared Abbrederis will get another shot at making the Green Bay Packers' roster.
The second-year receiver cleared waivers Sunday and will re-sign to the team's 10-man practice squad, an NFL source confirmed.
Abbrederis was among the final 20 cuts the Packers made to get down to the 53-player limit. He missed most of the preseason due to a concussion he suffered on the first day of training camp before returning to practice Tuesday. He also missed his entire rookie season last year with a torn ACL suffered during training camp.
The Wautoma native made his preseason debut in Thursday's 38-10 win over New Orleans, catching one pass for six yards and fielding three punts for 35 yards.
"It was good to get out there," Abbrederis said after the game. "Take a couple shots on that one catch. Take a couple hits and pop right up, that felt good. Just not really worry about anything, but, yeah, it's been a long trip last year and the beginning of camp this year. It was fun to be out there."
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Abbrederis was a star receiver during four seasons at Wisconsin. His 202 career recep
tions tied Brandon Williams for most in program history. He also finished eighth in Big Ten history (second in Wisconsin history) with 3,140 career receiving yards.
"It was crazy that it's been delayed this long," Abbrederis said. "… I wish I could've been out here a little bit earlier, but circumstances happen and you can't really control it."
Abbrederis was one of eight players Press-Gazette Media confirmed to sign with the Packers' practice squad Sunday. The other seven are linebackers Carl Bradford and James Vaughters, offensive linemen Jeremy Vujnovich and Matt Rotheram, defensive tackle Christian Ringo, running back John Crockett and tight end Justin Perillo.
Running back Rajion Neal appeared to have the edge for the No. 3 job coming out of camp, but his camp still hadn't heard anything from the Packers as of Sunday evening. He rushed 17 times for 69 yards (4.1 yards per carry) and caught 11 passes for 86 yards in four preseason games.
Thornton claimed by Patriots
The New England Patriots claimed former third-round defensive tackle Khyri Thornton on their 53-man roster, while the Packers added Ringo to the practice squad.
Thornton, a third-round draft pick last year, was waived Saturday when the Packers cut their roster to 53 players. The Patriots, winners of Super Bowl XLIX, had the final claim and used it on Thornton.
Thornton would have been a likely candidate for the Packers' practice squad, according to a league source. Instead, the Packers signed Ringo, the lone rookie draft pick out of eight total to be waived Saturday.
Ringo had multiple practice squad offers but preferred to stay in Green Bay, a source said.
Bradford, Vaughters get time to develop
Bradford, a second-year linebacker, will get another year to develop on the practice squad.
He was a fourth-round pick out of Arizona State last year, but struggled after being moved from outside linebacker to inside linebacker before his rookie season.
Bradford spent his entire rookie year on the Packers' 53-man roster but was never activated on the 46-man game-day roster.
Vaughters, an undrafted rookie out of Stanford also is making the transition from outside linebacker to insider linebacker.
Perillo staying in Green Bay
After failing to earn a job as the Packers' third tight end, Perillo was signed to the practice squad Sunday.
Perillo missed two weeks of training camp with a concussion. Before the injury, he had momentum in the battle against sixth-round rookie Kennard Backman, but he fell behind without the time spent on the field.
Undrafted rookie Mitchell Henry was planning to return on the practice squad before finding out the Denver Broncos claimed him on waivers. The 6-foot-4, 252-pound tight end chose the Packers over the Broncos after he went undrafted.
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Henry, who received a $5,000 signing bonus in May, was forced to use a cast during most of training camp after breaking his left middle finger on a pass from backup quarterback Scott Tolzien.
He didn't shed it until last week, but Denver must have liked what it had seen. The Bronco
s released former Wisconsin running back and 2013 second-round pick Montee Ball to make room for Henry on their 53-man roster.
"I really wasn't waking up today thinking this was going to happen," Henry said. "I only played in one preseason game without a cast on. I thought teams would probably look at me like, 'Oh, we don't need him.' I was excited to be here, but now I'm excited to be there, too."
Packers practice squad
RB John Crockett
WR Jared Abbrederis
ILB Carl Bradford
DT Christian Ringo
TE Justin Perillo
OL Matt Rotheram
LB James Vaughters
OT Jeremy Vujnovich
It doesn't appear the Packers will be retaining inside linebacker Joe Thomas, safety Jean Fanor or cornerback Tay Glover-Wright on their practice squad.