The Buffalo Bills signed former Alabama defensive tackle Phidarian Mathis for their 53-man active roster on Wednesday, the NFL team announced.
Mathis had been on the Bills’ practice squad since Sept. 10 and had played in two games as a practice-squad elevation. He played 17 defensive snaps and made two tackles in a 23-20 loss to the New England Patriots on Oct. 5 and played 14 defensive snaps and made one tackle in a 28-21 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday.
Each NFL team can have a practice squad of 16 players. Members of the practice squad do everything the players on the active roster do except play in games. But two practice-squad members can be elevated to active status for each game, although no player can be elevated from the practice squad more than three times in a season.
Buffalo promoted Mathis from the practice squad to take the active-roster spot of defensive end Michael Hoecht, who was placed on injured reserve because of an Achilles-tendon injury.
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Mathis was available for the Bills after the New York Jets waived him on Aug. 21. The Jets waived Mathis the day after obtaining defensive tackles Harrison Phillips and Jowon Briggs in trades with the Minnesota Vikings and Cleveland Browns, respectively.
The Bills play the Miami Dolphins at noon CST Sunday at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.
A second-round draft pick of the Washington Commanders in 2022 after playing in 55 games at Alabama, Mathis sustained a knee injury on the third snap of his NFL career and missed the remainder of his rookie season.
In 2023, Mathis opened the season on injured reserve after suffering a calf injury during the preseason and missed the first seven games.
Mathis played a career-high 257 defensive snaps in 12 games for the Commanders last season before being waived on Dec. 28 to create a roster spot for former Crimson Tide All-American Jonathan Allen, who was returning from injured reserve.
The Jets claimed Mathis off waivers, but he did not play in New York’s remaining game.
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