Packers Add Fourth Receiver to Practice Squad

Kalija Lipscomb, one of the most productive receivers in Vanderbilt history, was signed to the Green Bay Packers' practice squad.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers placed two of their draft picks on injured reserve on Tuesday, with third-round tight end Josiah Deguara going on IR and sixth-round center Jake Hanson going on the practice squad version of IR.

With Deguara off the roster, the Packers have 50 players on the roster.

To fill Hanson’s spot on the practice squad, the Packers signed receiver Kalija Lipscomb. Lipscomb is the fourth receiver on the 16-man practice squad.

Lipscomb caught 198 passes for 2,356 yards (11.9 average) and 22 touchdowns in his career. All three of those figures rank in the top 10 in program history. His junior season was his best, with 87 receptions, 916 yards (10.5 average) and nine scores. That season included a career-high 11 catches vs. Notre Dame. However, he caught only 47 passes as a senior as Vandy’s offense suffered through a dismal season. He also averaged 9.7 yards as a punt returner and 6.2 yards on carries.

“I’m just trying to show that I have a complete game,” Lipscomb told NOLA.com at the Senior Bowl. “A lot of people look at me as just a slot (receiver), so I want to show that I can navigate and run those routes and operate within those zones, but I also had a pretty good catch on a go ball today, so I also want to show that I can play outside if I need to.”

Lipscomb (6-0, 205) was signed by the Kansas City Chiefs as an undrafted rookie free agent, handing him a contract that included $110,000 guaranteed. He failed to make the roster but spent the first three weeks of the season on the Chiefs’ practice squad.

The New Orleans native fled to Houston with his mom when Hurricane Katrina struck in 2005.

“It was different because it was – just being a kid, what all do you have? You have your family and your friends,” Lipscomb told the school athletics site. “So when Katrina happens, we leave, friends leave, everybody leaves and I’m in Houston now and I don’t know anybody. I’m already a shy kid so it’s a little different. We stayed in a hotel for a year and then come back and not very many people came back to the city. When I came back to the city, those kids and those friends that I knew they weren’t there anymore. So, it was basically a new start.”

Lipscomb is joined by Reggie Begelton, Robert Foster and Juwann Winfree as receivers on the practice squad.