Seahawks Elevate Christian Jones, Cullen Gillaspia From Practice Squad to Face Saints

In a bit of a surprise, L.J. Collier won't be back in action for the Seattle Seahawks after being designated to return to practice this week, leaving the team with an open roster spot unfilled.

Ahead of their Week 5 road contest against the Saints on Sunday, the Seahawks bolstered their linebacker and special teams units by elevating Christian Jones and Cullen Gillaspia from the practice squad.

Jones, a former undrafted free agent signee out of Florida State, has played in 126 games with 74 starts in eight previous NFL seasons with the Bears and Lions. His best seasons came in 2017 and 2018 when he amassed 159 tackles, 3.0 sacks, two forced fumbles, and five pass breakups in 32 games.

Last season, Jones returned to Chicago after a four-year stint in Detroit, making 24 tackles while primarily playing special teams and suiting up for all 17 games. He didn't sign with anyone prior to or during training camp and the 31-year old joined Seattle's practice squad on September 14 after working out for the team.

Reuniting with associate head coach Sean Desai, who served as the Bears defensive coordinator last year, Jones has spent most of his career as an inside linebacker playing in 3-4 defenses. But according to defensive coordinator Clint Hurtt, the 6-foot-3, 245-pound defender may have a chance to see a few defensive snaps as an outside linebacker rotating behind Boye Mafe and Darrell Taylor against the Saints after veteran Darryl Johnson landed on injured reserve with a foot injury earlier this week.

"He has background in the position and some position flex playing off the ball," Hurtt told reporters. "So, Christian can help out again with the early down stuff."

As for Gillispia, he will dress for the Seahawks for a second straight week after playing 18 snaps as a practice squad elevation against the Lions last weekend. Previously drafted by the Texans in the seventh round in 2019, the former Texas A&M standout has previous experience playing fullback in the league, giving the team an intriguing insurance policy in two-back sets while helping fill in for an injured Travis Homer on kick and punt coverage.

Unexpectedly, Seattle opted not to fill an open spot on the 53-man roster two days after placing Johnson on injured reserve. Despite being designated to return to practice this week, defensive tackle L.J. Collier was not activated from injured reserve and won't be eligible to play in New Orleans. The team now has two weeks left to activate him per NFL rules.

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