Chris Godwin was unable to practice with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Wednesday due to a foot injury, leading the team to reach for reinforcements.
The Buccaneers (6-2) signed tight end Darren Fells and wide receiver Breshad Perriman to the practice squad with Godwin battling a foot injury confirmed by head coach Bruce Arians.
Godwin is playing the 2021 season on the one-year franchise tag, which for wide receivers guaranteed a salary of $16 million for the 25-year-old.
Also not practicing Wednesday was Antonio Brown, who along with Godwin started Week 1 against Dallas. Tight end Rob Gronkowski is also possibly out for Sunday’s game against the Washington Football Team (2-6), Arians said.
Brown is not close to a return from his own foot injury and has been sidelined since Oct. 14.
Fells, 35, was released by the Detroit Lions on Monday as he sought more playing time in his ninth NFL season.
He played in seven games (five starts) this season with Detroit, catching four passes for 43 yards. He was inactive for the Lions’ most recent game, a 44-6 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on Oct. 31 that dropped Detroit to 0-8.
Fells signed a one-year, $1.1 million contract with the Lions in June, per Spotrac.
Fells has 127 career receptions for 1,526 yards and 21 touchdowns in 109 games (81 starts) with the Arizona Cardinals (2014-16), Lions (2017, 2021), Cleveland Browns (2018) and Houston Texans (2019-20).
It’s a return to the Buccaneers for Perriman, who was released by the Chicago Bears on Sunday. The 28-year-old joined the Bears in September after the Lions released him, and he has been inactive for every game this season.
A first-round pick by Baltimore in 2015, Perriman has tallied 125 receptions for 2,066 yards and 14 touchdowns in 63 career games with the Ravens (2016-17), Cleveland Browns (2018), Bucs (2019) and New York Jets (2020).
Perriman set career highs in receptions (36), receiving yards (645) and receiving touchdowns (six) in his one season with Tampa Bay in 2019.
The Buccaneers released wide receiver John Hurst and tight end Deon Yelder from the practice squad.
