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The Green Bay Packers’ trade of safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix last week seemed to open an opportunity for expanded playing time for former Auburn standout Jermaine Whitehead. Instead, the Packers put Whitehead on waivers on Tuesday.
Running back Ameer Abdullah was the Detroit Lions’ leading rusher in 2015 and 2017, sandwiching an injury-shortened 2016 season, and led the NFL in kickoff-return yards in 2015. But like Whitehead, the former Homewood High School standout lost his NFL roster spot on Tuesday, when the Lions waived him.
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Whitehead had persevered through stops with the San Francisco 49ers and Baltimore Ravens before he came off the Packers’ practice squad to make his NFL debut on Oct. 30, 2016. He played in two games in 2016 and 10 last season before breaking through to become a regular contributor in 2018.
With Clinton-Dix gone and Whitehead coming off a career-high seven tackles on Oct. 28 against the Los Angeles Rams, he made his second NFL start on Sunday night.
In the second quarter, Whitehead was ejected from the game for slapping the helmet of New England center David Andrews. The 15-yard penalty moved the Patriots to the Green Bay 30-yard line, and New England scored three snaps later to take a 17-10 lead with 1:57 left in the first half on its way to a 31-17 victory.
“The Whitehead penalty was clearly a classic reaction to the first guy, and they catch the second guy,” Packers coach Mike McCarthy said Monday. “Whatever your feeling is, the severity of the penalty is a whole other topic. But … you can’t have that. You can’t react to those types of things. Yeah, we need to be better there.”
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Abdullah entered the 2018 NFL season with 1,251 yards and two touchdowns on 327 carries, 57 receptions for 420 yards and three TDs and a 27.8-yard average on 49 kickoff returns in his career.
During the offseason, the Lions signed running back LeGarrette Blount in free agency and added Kerryon Johnson, Auburn’s 2017 SEC rushing leader, in the draft.
Abdullah had been inactive for five of Detroit’s eight games in 2018. He had one carry for 1 yard, two receptions for 18 yards and four kickoff returns for a 26.8-yard average this season.
The Lions released Abdullah while adding wide receiver Bruce Ellington and running back Zach Zenner to their active roster.
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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.
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