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Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Ivy Latches On

Concerned by Donnie Abraham’s back, the Bucs make a deadline-day move, promoting CB Corey Ivy to the active roster

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A versatile player, CB Corey Ivy has even helped out the offense during practice when other players were injured

Corey Ivy has played in the NCAA, the NFLEL and the XFL. The three newest letters on his resume are NFL.

On Saturday, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers signed Ivy from their practice squad to their active roster, a few hours before the team was set to fly to Detroit. To make room for Ivy on the 53-man roster, the Bucs released guard Shane Grice.

The Buccaneers play the Detroit Lions on Sunday in the Pontiac Silverdome, and want to reserve judgment on the readiness of cornerback Donnie Abraham until that morning. Abraham is attempting to recover from a low back contusion suffered last Sunday on a violent tackle following his 46-yard interception return.

Abraham sat out Wednesday's practice, participated in some of Thursday's workout then looked markedly improved on Friday. However, the team is still not certain that their Pro Bowl corner will be healthy enough to suit up on Sunday. In addition, cornerback Ronde Barber started the week with a slight hamstring strain, though he practiced without difficulty on Thursday and Friday.

Ivy got his first crack in the NFL as an undrafted free agent with the New England Patriots in 1999 and also spent the 2000 preseason with the Cleveland Browns after playing with the Frankfurt Galaxy of the NFL Europe League that spring. This past offseason, Ivy was one of the top performers in the XFL, the short-lived, alternate professional league, playing for the Chicago Enforcers.

The 5-8, 183-pound Ivy came to camp with the Buccaneers after his XFL stint and impressed with his tenacious play, earning a spot on the team's practice squad. He spent the first eight weeks of the 2001 season on that unit before Saturday's activation.

Grice also was in the Bucs' 2001 camp after signing as an undrafted free agent out of Mississippi. He was released on August 27 and eventually landed on the Chicago Bears' practice squad. The Bucs signed him off that squad to their own active roster on September 26. He has been one of the team's eight gameday inactives for each of the resulting six contests.

The Bucs had until 4:00 p.m. on Saturday to make a roster move in time for it to be approved for Sunday's game.

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