Las Vegas Raiders sign another former Alabama player

Tampa Bay Buccaneers long snapper Carson Tinker heads out on the field for an NFL game against the Los Angeles Rams on Sept. 26, 2021, at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif.

Three players with Alabama football roots returned to the NFL on Wednesday, with long snapper Carson Tinker (Alabama) joining the Las Vegas Raiders’ active roster, defensive back Blake Countess (Auburn) joining the Baltimore Ravens’ practice squad and cornerback Dee Virgin (West Alabama) joining the Chicago Bears’ practice squad.

Released last week by Tampa Bay when Buccaneers long snapper Zach Triner returned from an injury that had sidelined him since the season-opening game, Tinker got an opportunity with the Raiders when Las Vegas placed regular long snapper Trent Sieg on reserve/COVID-19. The designation leaves Sieg’s availability uncertain for Sunday’s game against the Washington Football Team.

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“He’s got a lot of experience,” Raiders interim head coach Rich Bisaccia said of Tinker on Wednesday, “and I think he played as recently as three weeks ago, so we’re fortunate we can get him in here. He passed all the protocol, and he had a good day today and he’ll be a little bit better tomorrow, so we’re glad to have him right now.”

Tinker becomes the Raiders’ eighth Alabama alumnus, joining running backs Kenyan Drake and Josh Jacobs, guard Alex Leatherwood and defensive tackle Damion Square on the active roster. Safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, guard Lester Cotton and offensive lineman D.J. Fluker are on the Las Vegas practice squad.

Tinker played in eight games with Tampa Bay. When he played for the Bucs on Sept. 26, Tinker was making his first regular-season appearance since Oct. 7, 2018.

Tinker handled all the Jacksonville Jaguars’ long-snapping duties from 2013 through 2016. He missed the 2017 season after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee in training camp. Tinker returned in 2018, but five games into the campaign, he suffered another knee injury and missed the remainder of the season.

Jacksonville released Tinker with one season remaining on a four-year, $3.65 million contract extension, and he was out of football in 2019 and on the New York Giants’ practice squad in 2020.

Countess had been out of football since the Philadelphia Eagles released him from injured reserve with an injury settlement on Sept. 9.

Countess was one of the NFL’s busiest special-teams players with the Los Angeles Rams in 2017 and 2018. But he played in only six games with the New York Jets in 2019 and two with the Eagles in 2020.

Virgin had been out of football since the San Francisco 49ers released him from their practice roster on Sept. 21.

Since entering the NFL as an undrafted rookie in 2017, Virgin has played in 21 regular-season games, all with the Detroit Lions. Chicago is Virgin’s sixth NFL team, following the Houston Texans, Lions, Rams, New England Patriots and 49ers.

Virgin has been on the field for two defensive snaps and 447 special-teams plays during his NFL career, with 360 of the special-teams plays coming in 2019, when he played in 15 games.

Practice-squad players practice with the team but are not eligible to play unless they are elevated for a game. Teams can elevate two practice-squad players each week.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.

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