That not only opened the door for Joppru, but also gave Joe Newton a chance to get many more reps than he had been earning. Three tight ends presumably ahead of him were all out for an entire week at one point. Even so, Joe Newton still looks more like a practice squad candidate at this point.
The battle for the final tight end spot likely comes down to Joppru vs. Stephens. It looked that way back on August 4th during the Seahawks Scrimmage, until Joppru was forced out of the game and finished the day on crutches. Stephens started to solidify a lead in that race until he was slowed by an injury of his own on August 10th that has kept him out for going on two weeks. And Joppru's speedy recovery has given him a chance to catch Stephens and even move ahead of him. Injuries have definitely greatly influenced what is going on at tight end.
The most appealing scenario now appears to be keeping Joppru (a former 2nd round pick) on the active roster, and stashing Leonard Stephens on the practice squad if possible. If I am interpreting the new CBA correctly, Stephens is eligible for one more practice squad season. He was eligible for the practice squad last year, when means he meets the basic requirements to be practice squad eligible.
You are only allowed to be on a practice squad for two years, and he was previously on the practice squad in Detroit for a year as well. However, the new CBA includes the following clause: "An otherwise eligible player may be a practice squad player for a third season only if the Club by which he is employed that season has at least 53 players on its Active/Inactive List during the entire period of his employment."
Bennie Joppru also appears to be practice squad eligible. Although Joppru has several accrued seasons in the NFL, he has never been on the active list for more than five games in any of those seasons. The new CBA also allows for "free agent players who were on the Active List for fewer than nine regular season games during their only Accrued Season(s)" to be practice squad players. And Joppru didn't accrue a season with the Seahawks last year because he was only on the active roster for five regular season games. It takes six to earn an accrued season.
So, it appears that both Stephens and Joppru would be eligible for the practice squad, even if they are walking a fine line on along the eligibility requirements. A healthy Joppru would likely garner more interest from other teams because he is a former 2nd round draft pick that has just had terrible luck with injuries, while Stephens has always been a fringe player splitting time between practice squads and NFL Europe.
Injuries are going to continue to influence this situation, but Joppru appears to be headed for the active roster as long as he can stay healthy over the next eight days. Leonard Stephens is still out and won't play against the Vikings. That leaves him five days starting Monday to prove his case, assuming he is back at practice on the 27th. The team also has to get ready for the game against the Raiders on Thursday and training camp is over, so Stephens is looking at a max of three practices and the most meaningless preseason game as his only opportunities.
David Greene and Floyd Womack are still on shaky ground, especially after the Green Bay game, but it would still take quite a bit for anyone to take away their roster spots. Pat Ross probably has the best chance of grabbing a spot from Womack, but that wouldn't make any sense if he could be safely stashed on the practice squad.
Offense (25)
QB (3) - Matt Hasselbeck, Seneca Wallace, David Greene
HB/FB (5) - Shaun Alexander, Maurice Morris, Mack Strong, Leonard Weaver, Josh Parry
WR (5) - Deion Branch, DJ Hackett, Nate Burleson, Bobby Engram, Ben Obomanu
TE (3) - Marcus Pollard, Will Heller, Bennie Joppru
OL (9) - Walter Jones, Sean Locklear, Chris Spencer, Rob Sims, Chris Gray, Ray Willis, Tom Ashworth, Mansfield Wrotto, Floyd Womack
Defense (25)
DE (4) - Patrick Kerney, Bryce Fisher, Darryl Tapp, Baraka Atkins
DT (6) - Rocky Bernard, Chuck Darby, Marcus Tubbs, Brandon Mebane, Russell Davis, Craig Terrill
OLB (5) - Julian Peterson, Leroy Hill, Kevin Bentley, Lance Laury, Will Herring
ILB (2) - Lofa Tatupu, Niko Koutouvides
S (4) - Deon Grant, Brian Russell, Michael Boulware, Mike Green
CB (4) - Marcus Trufant, Kelly Jennings, Josh Wilson, Jordan Babineaux
Special Teams (3)
K - Josh Brown
P - Ryan Plackemeier
LS - Derek Rackley
Practice Squad:
WR Courtney Taylor, WR Logan Payne, TE Leonard Stephens, C Pat Ross, OT Jonathan Alston, CB Kevin Hobbs, LB Cameron Jensen, S C.J. Wallace, DE Nu'u Tafisi
The practice squad list includes 9 players, one more than the 8 allowed, but these look like the guys most likely to wind up with this unit. Remember, one or more of them could potentially be signed by another team. You could also have a scenario where Courtney Taylor (or one of the others) makes the active roster in the place of someone that isn't practice squad eligible. Or you could have Taylor taking a spot away from Will Herring. Then it would be tough to know if Herring would clear waivers of not.
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