Texans' Tremon Smith: Steps up for depleted secondary
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Smith recorded 11 tackles (seven solo), one pass defended and a forced fumble in Sunday's 30-24 overtime loss against Kansas City.
Smith stepped up in place of starting cornerback Steven Nelson, who was inactive Sunday after suffering a foot/knee injury during Week 16's loss to Dallas. This led the backup cornerback to play every defensive snap for the first time this season, and he was one of four Texans defenders to notch double-digit tackles against Kansas City. Smith exclusively played on special teams over the first 12 games of the season, and it's likely he'll revert back to this role after Nelson returned to practice in full Tuesday.
Smith returned one punt for 15 yards, one kickoff for 25 yards and one interception for 12 yards in Saturday's 17-13 preseason win over New Orleans.
Smith's first-quarter pick set up the Texans' first score, and his punt return gave the offense good field position to attempt a field goal at the end of the half. His primary role is as a returner, and Smith will provide depth at cornerback, something head coach Lovie Smith reinforced following the game. "The more things you do, the better your chances," Smith said. "And Tremon is our returner. We know what he can do in that role. But when you say the more things you can do - to be able to do that and also play good ball at the cornerback position in a backup role is big for us." Smith also had one tackle on defense and another on special teams.
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Texans' Tremon Smith: Gets turn at running back
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Smith did not have a kick return and had one carry as a running back for seven yards in Sunday's 41-29 win over the Chargers.
Smith is a cornerback by trade as well as a kick returner, but he successfully lobbied Houston's coaches to try him at running back Sunday, per Aaron Wilson of 790 AM SportsTalk. His one carry was a significant one, a red zone touch that preceded four straight handoffs to Rex Burkhead, who eventually scored a touchdown. "We knew we were going to run some outside stuff on this team and we knew speed was important," Texans coach David Culley said. "Tremon runs very well and he's been asking for that anyway. So, we use him in that situation and obviously he helped us today." The Chargers wisely avoided kicking to Smith, who scored a touchdown last week on a kickoff return, and booted five kickoffs for touchbacks. The one kick in play was a pooch kick that landed nowhere near Smith. Burkhead is the established No. 1 running at this stage of the season, but Houston has just one back, Scottie Phillips (ankle), under contract next season. That means Smith could get work on offense over the final two games with an eye toward some type of role there next season.
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Texans' Tremon Smith: Inks extension
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Smith signed a one-year, $1.6 million extension with the Texans on Friday, Brooks Kubena of the Houston Chronicle reports.
Smith is a reserve cornerback who's primarily played on special teams, most notably serving as the top kick returner after Houston released return specialist Andre Roberts mid-October. Over the last five games, the four-year veteran has returned six kicks for 156 yards, including a 28-yard kickoff return in last Sunday's lost to the Jets that set up a potential scoring opportunity in the fourth quarter.
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Colts' Tremon Smith: Links up with Colts
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Smith signed a contract with Indianapolis on Sunday.
The Colts waived Kendall Coleman to make room for Smith on the roster. Smith played a special-teams role across seven games with the Packers and one game with the Chiefs last season.
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Tremon Smith: Waived by Packers
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Smith was waived by the Packers on Monday, Jim Owczarski of PackerNews.com reports.
The Packers remarkably have accrued a negative total of punt return yardage through 11 games. Smith was brought in last month to help resolve the issue, but things have remained the same. Thus, the team has opted to move on and give Tyler Ervin a chance.
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Packers' Tremon Smith: Bumps to active roster
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The Packers promoted Smith to the 53-man roster Tuesday, Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com reports.
The Packers tried out Chandon Sullivan as a kick returner in this past Sunday's win over the Chiefs, but they apparently weren't thrilled about his production and will retry Smith. Despite playing in just two games with the Packers, he has the team's best kick return (25 yards) this year. Look for him to field kicks immediately in Week 9 against the Chargers.
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Packers' Tremon Smith: Lands in Green Bay
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Smith was claimed off waivers by the Packers on Monday, Terez A. Paylor of Yahoo Sports reports.
Smith was waived by the Chiefs on Saturday and didn't spend long looking for a new team. The 2018 sixth-round pick projects to provide the Packers with depth in the secondary.
