Quarterback AJ McCarron will be in uniform and available to play in an NFL regular-season game on Sunday for the first time since Jan. 3, 2021.

The Cincinnati Bengals announced on Saturday that they had elevated the former Alabama All-American from their practice squad for Sunday’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The Bengals also placed quarterback Joe Burrow on injured reserve on Saturday. Burrow sustained a season-ending wrist injury in Cincinnati’s previous game – a 34-20 loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Nov. 16.

Jake Browning finished that game at quarterback after Burrow went out, and he’ll be the Bengals’ starting QB against the Steelers on Sunday.

By elevating McCarron from the practice squad, he’ll be in position to back up Browning as he makes his first NFL start.

A fifth-round draft choice of Cincinnati in 2014, McCarron sustained a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee while playing in an NFL preseason game for the Atlanta Falcons on Aug. 21, 2021. McCarron spent that season on injured reserve and didn’t return to football until earlier this year.

With the XFL’s St. Louis Battlehawks, McCarron led the league in touchdown passes, completion percentage and passing-efficiency rating.

Cincinnati signed McCarron for its practice squad on Sept. 23. This will be his first elevation. Each NFL team can elevate two practice-squad players to active status for each game.

The Bengals and Steelers kick off at noon CST Sunday at Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati.

McCarron earned All-State honors in football and baseball at St. Paul’s Episcopal in Mobile and helped the Saints win the AHSAA Class 5A football championship in 2007.

McCarron was the starting quarterback for the Alabama teams that won the BCS national championships for the 2011 and 2012 seasons. In 2013, he became the Crimson Tide’s all-time passing leader, won the Maxwell Award and the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award and finished second in the Heisman Trophy balloting.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.