On any given day, there are 16 players on each NFL roster listed on the practice squad. Only 53 players are eligible to be on a team’s active roster. Only 48 can suit up on gameday.
Those rules leave a contingent of players on the sidelines at kickoff, wearing team-issued gear instead of their uniforms. Often unnoticed, these players support their team in ways other than making plays on the field.
Week after week, the group dedicates their minds and bodies to helping their teammates prepare for the game ahead. Head Coach Nick Sirianni has proclaimed on many occasions that this team is a selfless one, propelled by love for each other. The practice squad is a testament to that.
Life on the practice squad isn’t glamorous. There are near-constant roster fluctuations and an ever-present reality that you or a teammate could be released at any moment. All the while, players await the moment their number is called, persevering toward a chance to see game time snaps of their own.
At the start of the week, they watch hours of film of upcoming opponents in their position group, with the goal of identifying their strengths, habits, moves, and more. Then, during practice, they emulate those tendencies, giving the active roster the best glimpse at what they can expect on Sunday.
“As a practice squad member, you’ve just got to understand really what your value is for the team and what your value is to the guy across from you that’s going to be getting the look from you all week. That’s the look that they’re going to transfer over to the game,” said offensive lineman Sua Opeta.
“You’ve got to make sure that you’re spot on with what the other team does and give them the right looks so that when they feel it, it’s not new to them, you know? They felt that look all week.”
Opeta lines up against defensive tackle Javon Hargrave, preparing him for powerful blocks to come. This season, when those blocks expectedly came, Hargrave often broke through with ease, adding sack after sack to his resume. He had 11 during the 2022 regular season. That’s how Opeta knows his was a job well done.
“If he’s making some plays, I might like to think to myself, ‘Oh yeah! I know this is because I gave him a good block on that play.’ There’s a little bit of pride in that,” Opeta said.
“The guys, they appreciate a good look. They appreciate you going hard, showing them what they might see, and just being as close to the other team as possible.”
What does this Super Bowl berth mean to the practice squad?