DBs Anthony Chesley, Nolan Turner Activated for Bucs-Steelers Game

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers made a pair of moves on Saturday to add some much-needed game-day depth to their secondary, which is dealing with a recent rash of injuries.

The Buccaneers elevated third-year cornerback Anthony Chesley and rookie safety Nolan Turner from the practice squad, expanding their active roster to 55 players for their Week Six game in Pittsburgh. With safety Logan Ryan missing a second straight game with a foot injury and both cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting and safety Mike Edwards sustaining new injuries last Sunday, the Bucs’ defensive backfield was suddenly looking a bit thin for Sunday’s game. Murphy-Bunting has been ruled out for the game while Edwards is considered questionable to play.

The NFL introduced the elevation option in 2020, which allows teams to activate up to two players from their practice squad for each game. Each player on the practice squad can be elevated up to three times during the regular season and an unlimited amount of times in the postseason. After the game, elevated players automatically revert to the practice squad without having to pass through waivers.

This is the first elevation for both Chesley and Turner in 2022.

Chesley (6-0, 190) was signed to the Buccaneers’ practice squad on September 1, two days after he had been waived by Indianapolis in the final roster cuts. Originally an undrafted free agent with the Cincinnati Bengals out of Coastal Carolina in 2019 and split his rookie year between the practice squads in Cincinnati and Houston. Chesley landed on the Texans’ practice squad again in 2020 and played in three games after game-day elevations. He signed with the Colts in 2021 and, between a two-month stint on the active roster and a couple more practice squad elevations, saw action in nine regular-season contests. In his 12 games played overall he has recorded seven tackles and a fumble recovery.

Nelson (6-1, 202), who played his college ball at Clemson, signed with the Buccaneers as an undrafted free agent in May. He played in all three of the Buccaneers’ preseason games, with two starts, and contributed six tackles plus another three stops on special teams. Over six seasons at Clemson he played in 65 games with 25 starts and amassed 192 tackles, 3.0 sacks, 13.5 tackles for loss, seven interceptions, 20 passes defensed and two forced fumbles.