The Bucs shuffled their roster after Tuesday’s joint practice with the Jaguars in Jacksonville, moving rookie defensive tackle DeShawn McKnight to injured reserve and bringing in wide receiver Matthew Henry.
McKnight, an undrafted rookie from Arizona, got hurt in Tampa Bay’s 16-15 preseason win over Kansas City last Saturday night. He had signed with the team in May as an undrafted free agent and spent the spring and summer moving through rookie camp, OTAs, minicamp and most of training camp with the Bucs.
His preseason work showed a little of what Tampa Bay liked. In the opener against the Jets, he played nine snaps and earned a 55.0 overall grade from Pro Football Focus, including a 60.0 run defense grade. Against the Chiefs, he logged one snap and was credited with a quarterback hurry before suffering the hamstring injury on that play.
That injury opened a roster spot, and Tampa Bay used it on Henry, a late-arriving rookie receiver with a winding college path.
Henry started at Livingstone College, where he put together 66 catches for 840 yards with eight touchdowns over 15 games. He moved on to Western Illinois for the 2024 season and produced 64 receptions for 1,211 yards and six touchdowns. He finished at Western Kentucky, where he caught 55 passes for 888 yards and six scores in his lone year with the Hilltoppers.
The 6-foot-1, 180-pound receiver went undrafted earlier this year and later took part in rookie minicamps with the Titans and 49ers.
Now he’s walking into a crowded Bucs receiver room at the very end of camp. Tampa Bay has only one more practice Wednesday morning in Jacksonville before Friday night’s preseason finale against the Jaguars, and roster cutdowns arrive Sunday. That leaves Henry a narrow window to make his case.
There may not even be much room left to fight for. Chris Godwin Jr., Emeka Egbuka, Jalen McMillan, Ted Hurst and Tez Johnson are all considered locked in among the top five receivers. The final spot is still open, with Kameron Johnson, David Sills V and Dean Patterson IV among the names in the mix.
Even a practice squad push won’t come easy. Sills, Patterson, Garrett Greene and Dennis Houston are all in the mix there as well, assuming Kameron Johnson claims the sixth receiver job.
Still, Henry gives the Bucs another healthy receiver for Friday’s preseason finale. Godwin, Egbuka and McMillan won’t play, and there may not be much reason to give Hurst or Tez Johnson many snaps either. Rookie Eric Rivers Jr. also did not practice Tuesday, so Tampa Bay could be down another receiver by game day.
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