Alabama
Former Alabama cornerback joins NFL playoff team
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.