TAMPA - The Tampa Bay Buccaneers elevated safety J.J. Roberts and quarterback Easton Stick from the practice squad Thursday afternoon, expanding their game-day roster to 55 players for their Week Five Thursday Night Football matchup against the Dallas Cowboys - a move driven in part by the absence of two-time Pro Bowler Antoine Winfield Jr., who is out with a rib fracture.
With Winfield sidelined, veteran Ifeatu Melifonwu will step into the starting lineup alongside Tykee Smith at safety. Roberts, who could make his NFL regular season debut Thursday night, joins Miles Killebrew as a backup option at the position. Of the 55 players on the expanded roster, 48 will be active for the game, with the team naming seven inactives prior to kickoff.
Roberts originally joined the Buccaneers as an undrafted free agent out of Marshall in 2025 and was reportedly close to earning a spot on the 53-man roster before suffering a knee injury in a joint practice with the Pittsburgh Steelers that landed him on season-ending injured reserve. He returned to training camp this summer but did not play in any of the team’s three preseason games, yet still secured a practice squad spot to open the regular season. This marks his first elevation of the season.
Over his collegiate career - three seasons at Wake Forest followed by two at Marshall - Roberts appeared in 55 games with 28 starts, recording 213 tackles, 6.0 tackles for loss, three interceptions, 28 passes defensed and five forced fumbles. He earned All-Sun Belt first-team honors last year after leading the conference with a career-best 14 passes defensed across all 13 games he started.
Stick, receiving his second elevation of the season, will again serve as backup to rookie quarterback Jalon Daniels, who is set to make his second NFL start in place of Baker Mayfield. Mayfield suffered a dislocated right thumb against Minnesota in Week Three, with the initial prognosis placing him out a minimum of three weeks. Stick was signed to the practice squad Aug. 31 and brings familiarity with Offensive Coordinator Zac Robinson’s system, having worked with Robinson last season with the Atlanta Falcons. A fifth-round pick by the Los Angeles Chargers in 2019, Stick has appeared in six games with four starts, completing 111 of 174 passes for a 63.8 completion rate, 1,129 yards, three touchdowns, one interception and an 85.7 passer rating.
Under the collective bargaining agreement introduced in 2020, teams may elevate up to two practice squad players per game, with each player eligible for up to three regular-season elevations and an unlimited number of postseason elevations. Elevated players automatically revert to the practice squad after the game without passing through waivers.