Washington Commanders linebacker Cody Barton has been activated off the Injured Reserve list and will be available for the team during its Thanksgiving matchup against the Dallas Cowboys.
The news does not come as a surprise. Not only was Barton a full participant on Monday and Tuesday, but head coach Ron Rivera also said during his Tuesday press conference that the team intended to activate him because of how positively his injury responded to the workload earlier this week.
"He's had a good couple of days," Rivera said. "He had actually a good week last week, and he's chomping at the bit, he's been a pain."
Barton, a free agent acquisition by the Commanders this offseason, was the team's leader in tackles prior to being placed on IR. Not only will the Commanders get that production back against one of the best offenses in the league, but his presence will have a reverberating effect on the rest of the defense, namely at linebacker with Jamin Davis.
"I think what it does is it puts Jamin back at his more natural position that he's been playing the last couple of years and just kind of settle him back down," Rivera said. "That'd be really good for Jamin. And just his overall communication skills as an inside guy. I don't know if we'll have to rely on as many different personnel groupings either on defense, but I thought David Mayo came in and did a heck of a job for us."
The Commanders have made three more changes to their roster. Linebacker De'Jon Harris, who was on the injury report with a quad injury, has been placed on Injured Reserve. The Commanders have also signed defensive end Joshua Pryor and running back Jonathan Williams from the practice squad.
