The Houston Texans have signed cornerback Anthony Averett to their practice squad, the NFL team announced on Monday.

The former Alabama defensive back joins the Texans as they prepare to play the Los Angeles Chargers in the first round of the AFC playoffs at 3:30 p.m. CST Saturday at NRG Stadium in Houston.

Averett fills the roster spot opened when the Texans signed cornerback D’Angelo Ross from their practice squad for their 53-man active roster on Saturday, and he played 48 defensive snaps in Sunday’s 23-14 victory over the Tennessee Titans.

Each NFL team can elevate two players from its practice squad to active status for each game, and that rule includes playoff contests.

Averett was in training camp and played in the preseason with the Pittsburgh Steelers in August and spent the first eight weeks of the season on the team’s practice squad before being released with an injury settlement on Oct. 28.

Averett hasn’t played in an NFL regular-season game since Nov. 20, 2022, when his injury-affected, lone season with the Las Vegas Raiders ended early. He spent time with the San Francisco 49ers and Detroit Lions in 2023.

A senior starter for the Crimson Tide’s CFP national-championship team for the 2017 season, Averett entered the NFL as a fourth-round selection of the Baltimore Ravens in the 2018 draft.

Averett spent his first three seasons largely as a reserve with the Ravens before moving into a starting role when Marcus Peters got hurt in the second game of the 2021 season. Averett’s performance across 14 starts in Baltimore’s defensive backfield included his three NFL interceptions and earned him a one-year, $4 million contract from the Raiders in free agency.

Averett sustained a broken thumb and broken toe with Las Vegas in 2022.

Averett has played in 51 NFL regular-season games and three playoff contests.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at @AMarkG1.

As we learn more about the stories of those impacted by the deadly New Year’s Day terrorist attack in New Orleans, one Alabama woman is sharing her story of how her friends’ quick thinking after the attack likely saved her life.

In the early morning hours of January 1, Shamsud-Din Jabbar drove a rented pickup truck into a crowd of people celebrating the start of 2025 on New Orleans’ world-famous Bourbon Street, killing 14 people and injuring dozens more.

Mobile, Al. native Alexis Scott-Windham was celebrating with her friends in the area when the 23-year-old says she noticed the truck speeding towards them.

“As we look to our left, we see the truck come down the sidewalk because he was halfway on the sidewalk and halfway on the street. As he’s coming down, he has no lights on,” she told CNN in an interview. “He was hitting people like speed bumps like we were nothing.”

Jabbar’s truck clipped the back of Alexis’ leg. But when she tried to get up from the ground, she realized something else was wrong.

“That’s when I tried to run, but I couldn’t,” she told NBC News. “I knew something was wrong with my foot. I thought it was just a broken bone or something, but it wasn’t. My feet had started leaking.”

When Scott-Windham’s friends realized she’d been shot, they immediately called her mother, who told them to make a tourniquet in order to apply pressure to the area and stop the flow of blood.

“So I just told my daughter’s friend to just tie her other sock around her leg so she wouldn’t bleed so heavy,” Alexis’ mom Tryphena Scott-Windham told NBC News.

Alexis’ friends sprung into action, getting her blood loss under control before a good Samaritan drove her to the hospital.

You might think Tryphena Scott-Windham’s advice comes from years of medical training, but she says she got the idea from watching television.

“I just blurted that out. I was in straight panic mode,” she told NBC News.

A new Miss America is in town.

On Sunday, Dec. 5, Abbie Stockard, representing Alabama, was crowned Miss America after earning Miss Alabama in 2024.

According to CNN, the 22-year-old nursing student is an undergraduate and cheerleader at Auburn University in Alabama. She won at the annual event in Orlando, Florida, triumphing over 51 other US state representatives.

In a video shared on Miss America’s Instagram page, Stockard appeared flabbergasted as she was crowned the victor. Sporting a sparkly silver and white gown, she looked shocked as runner-up Annette Addo-Yobo, who represented Texas, hugged her.

The competition shared the aftermath of her victory with a series of Instagram Stories posts, one of which shows an overjoyed Stockard saying, “This is insane. I don’t know what I did to deserve this. Holy Moly. I’m so excited, I’m so grateful.”

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In another video, Stockard — who also scoops a $50,000 tuition scholarship as part of her victory — became emotional as she held onto her bouquet of flowers while wearing her crown. Per CNN, the runner-up states included Tennessee, Florida and Ohio. 

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Rounds in the competition included choreographed dances and live segments. The pageant also included a fitness section, with contenders sporting red and gold activewear. This was followed by talent, eveningwear and interview segments.

CNN reported that the talent round showcased slam poetry by Miss Texas, a jazz dance routine by Miss Wisconsin and a contemporary dance by Stockard.

Stockard also spoke about the decreasing labor force among 25 to 54-year-olds following the COVID-19 pandemic during the competition. “I believe we need to encourage those (people) to join the workforce, adapt to new skills and learn to grow in our current workforce and industries we have today,” she said.

Stockard will take over from 2024 winner, Madison Marsh, to begin her 12-month reign as a Miss America advocate and will have the opportunity to travel the world in her new position.

Ahead of the final, Stockard reflected on her journey to the competition via Instagram. “Tonight, a new Miss America will be crowned. As I step into this evening, I am filled with excitement, honor, and gratitude,” she said.