“The Indianapolis Colts made some practice squad moves on Tuesday, including bringing back quarterback Alex Tanney.”
By Josh Wilson
Nov 11, 2015
After announcing yesterday afternoon that starting quarterback Andrew Luck has a lacerated kidney and a partially torn abdominal muscle, the Colts made a move to sign a quarterback - just not to the active roster. The team brought back Alex Tanney to the practice squad, who was on the practice squad earlier in the year when Luck was injured. In addition, they also signed safety Dezmen Southward to the practice squad and waived quarterback Matt Blanchard and guard Kitt O'Brien.
Tanney spent three weeks on the Colts' practice squad earlier this year while Andrew Luck recovered from a shoulder injury, providing the team with another arm in practice (though not for games). He also spent very brief time on the Bills practice squad earlier this season and was in training camp and preseason with the Titans, and in 2014 he spent some time on the Titans practice squad.
In 2013, he was a member of the Cowboys practice squad for 12 weeks before being signed by the Browns to their active roster. In 2012, he was signed as an undrafted free agent out of Monmouth by the Kansas City Chiefs, though he spent his rookie season on injured reserve. Tanney holds the NCAA Division III career records in both passing yards (14,249) and passing touchdowns (157) and was named the Midwest Conference Offensive Player of the Year three times.
The Colts absolutely needed to add a quarterback and Tanney provides someone that they are familiar with from earlier this year, but they still will need to add someone to the active roster. With Andrew Luck injured, only Matt Hasselbeck is healthy among the active quarterbacks, so look for the Colts to add someone to the 53-man roster at that position. Josh Johnson, who was their backup earlier in the year when Luck was injured, is currently on the Bills roster, making him unavailable. The Colts currently have two open spots on their 53-man roster, and it would be a big surprise if one of them wasn't filled with a quarterback.
As for Dezmen Southward, he was waived by the Atlanta Falcons last week after being drafted by Atlanta in the third round of last year's NFL Draft. He has played in 18 career games and has recorded 21 tackles, a sack, two passes defensed, and an interception. An Indianapolis native, Southward played collegiately at Wisconsin, where he set a school record by playing in 54 consecutive games. He started 30 games in his career and racked up 152 tackles (11.5 for loss), two forced fumbles, two picks, and 11 passes defensed.