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On Tuesday, the Green Bay Packers made official one roster transaction that has been expected since last Monday’s win over the Atlanta Falcons while adding an extra pair of transactions to swap out a practice squad spot.
The first, unsurprising transaction was to move tight end Josiah Deguara to injured reserve. Deguara suffered a torn ACL in last week’s game, which will cost him the rest of the 2020 season. With his move to injured reserve, the Packers’ active roster now sits at 50 players, three short of the 53-man limit.
Since the team is running three men under the maximum, the Packers could elect to bring two players back from injured reserve this week and still have an extra spot to spare. Wide receiver Equanimeous St. Brown and linebacker Kamal Martin both began practicing on Monday and could return this week.
The Packers’ other two transactions on Tuesday involve practice squad players. The team moved center Jake Hanson to injured reserve from the practice squad with an unspecified injury. Hanson was the third of the Packers’ three sixth-round draft picks in the spring but missed out on making the initial 53-man roster. Thankfully the team was able to bring him back on the practice squad, where the team now drops down from three to two offensive linemen.
To fill that spot, the Packers added a fourth wide receiver to the practice squad, signing undrafted rookie Kalija Lipscomb. The six-foot Lipscomb played his college football at Vanderbilt, where he totaled 198 receptions for 2,356 yards and 22 touchdowns in his career. Lipscomb’s best season came as a junior in 2018, when he caught 87 balls for 916 yards and nine scores, adding 14 carries for 75 yards and another touchdown on the ground.
Lipscomb, who had a workout in Green Bay last week, recorded an impressive 10-foot-7 broad jump at the 2020 NFL Combine, but posted results in the bottom third of wide receivers for the vertical jump (32 inches) and the 40-yard dash (4.57 seconds). He now joins Reggie Begelton, Robert Foster, and Juwann Winfree as wideouts on the Packers’ practice squad.