Giants Make Key Practice Squad Move Ahead of Week 17 Game

The Giants are banged up (again) at safety.

Defensive back Patrick McMorris has signed with the Giants practice squad. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The New York Giants have added a familiar face to their practice squad in the form of safety Patrick McMorris.

McMorris was originally a sixth-round draft pick by the Dolphins out of San Diego State. However, he landed on injured reserve at the end of his first NFL training camp, spending most of his rookie campaign on IR before being activated on November 26. 

He went on to appear in six games for the Dolphins as a rookie, recording just one tackle in eight defensive snaps. He was primarily a special teams contributor for Miami, appearing in 97 snaps for Miami’s special teams unit.

McMorris, 6-foot and 206 pounds, was invited back to the Dolphins training camp this past summer but failed to make the 53-man roster. After being cut from the final roster, he was picked up by the Giants for their practice squad but was released on September 16.

From there, he was signed to the Cardinals' practice squad, only to be released a couple of weeks after that. He later re-signed with the Cardinals' practice squad earlier this month before being released earlier this week. 

The move to add McMorris, who fills the spot left open when the team released punter Cameron Johnston, could signal a desire for depth for the remaining two games of the 2025 season, given the neck injury starter Tyler Nubin is dealing with. 

Nubin was unable to practice at all this past week after getting nicked up in last week’s loss to the Vikings.

He was among the five players the Giants declared out for this weekend’s game, and it would appear that, for the second season in a row, Nubin, who last season was limited to just 13 games thanks to a season-ending ankle injury, is in jeopardy of finishing an NFL campaign inactive due to injury.

Nubin, who this season has appeared in 13 games, has seen his tackes drop from 98 as a rookie to 78 this season. But he has three more tackles for loss and one more pass breakup this season that he did as a rookie.

With Nubin having been declared out of Sunday’s game against the Raiders, the Giants are likely to start Dane Belton in Nubin’s place alongside Jevon Holland. New York also has Beau Brade on the 53-man roster at safety.

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