The Dallas Cowboys signed Rashaan Evans for their practice squad two days after linebacker Leighton Vander Esch sustained a neck injury in a 42-10 loss to the San Francisco 49ers on Oct. 10.

Vander Esch hasn’t played since getting hurt, and the Cowboys announced on Wednesday that he would miss the remainder of the 2023 season. On Saturday, Dallas announced Evans had been signed to the 53-player active roster, making the former Alabama linebacker eligible to play in Sunday’s game against the Carolina Panthers.

Evans played in the Cowboys’ past three games as a practice-squad elevation. In his first two appearances, Evans was on the field for seven defensive snaps and 28 special-teams plays. But in Sunday’s 30-6 victory over the New York Giants, Evans was in the starting lineup and played 28 of Dallas’ 57 defensive snaps as well as 11 special-teams plays.

For Evans to play against the Panthers on Sunday, he had to be on the active roster. The NFL allows each team to elevate two players from the practice squad to active status for each game. But no player can be elevated more than three times, and Evans was out of elevations.

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For the Atlanta Falcons last season, Evans recorded 159 tackles, tied for the seventh-most in the NFL. He became an unrestricted free agent when the league’s 2023 fiscal year started on March 15, and he remained unsigned until Sept. 12.

The Philadelphia Eagles signed Evans for their practice squad on the same day they put linebacker Nakobe Dean on injured reserve. But the Eagles released Evans four days later after moving Huntsville High School alumnus Nicholas Morrow from the practice squad to the active roster to fill Dean’s starting spot.

A 2018 first-round draft pick off Alabama’s 2017 CFP national-championship team, Evans played four seasons with the Tennessee Titans before signing with the Falcons in 2022.

Evans was the Alabama Sports Writers Association’s Class 6A Lineman of the Year at Auburn High School in 2013 and a first-team All-American selection by the American Football Coaches Association at Alabama in 2017.

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