Released by the Atlanta Falcons one week ago, linebacker Tae Davis returned to the NFL on Tuesday, when the Carolina Panthers announced their signing of the former Oxford High School standout.

Davis had played in eight of Atlanta’s nine games this season when the Falcons released him on Nov. 7. Davis missed Atlanta’s 28-23 loss to the Tennessee Titans on Oct. 29 because of a concussion.

Davis made two special-teams tackles in the Falcons’ 24-10 victory over the Panthers on Sept. 10.

Davis signed a one-year, $1,181,500 contract in March with Atlanta as a free agent. Davis played one defensive snap for the Falcons, but he was on the field for 174 special-teams plays.

Since earning a spot in the NFL as an undrafted rookie in 2018, Davis has played in 53 regular-season games with 428 defensive snaps and 858 special-teams plays.

As an undrafted rookie in 2018 with the New York Giants, Davis played 343 defensive snaps and 196 special-teams plays as he made 33 tackles and recorded the only two sacks of his career in 14 games.

Since leaving the Giants four games into his second season, Davis has been almost exclusively a special-teamer.

The Cleveland Browns claimed Davis off waivers in 2019, and he played in nine games that season and 13 in 2020.

Davis joined the Houston Texans in free agency in 2021, but he missed the season on injured reserve. With the Las Vegas Raiders in 2022, Davis again got hurt during training camp, but he recovered to play the final five games of the season with the Browns.

After recording a 100-tackle season for Oxford in 2013, Davis went to Chattanooga. He spent three seasons with the Mocs as a safety before moving to linebacker as a senior.

Davis joined Carolina on the same day another former Alabama high school standout cleared waivers after being released by the Panthers.

Tight end Jordan Matthews signed with Carolina’s practice squad on Oct. 25 and moved up the active roster on Nov. 7. In his first NFL regular-season appearance since Oct. 31, 2021, Matthews got on the field for 19 special-teams plays in the Panthers’ 16-13 loss to the Chicago Bears on Thursday.

Matthews was a football and basketball standout for Madison Academy. He helped the Mustangs win the AHSAA Class 3A boys’ basketball championship in 2008 and reach the title game the next two seasons. In football, Matthews earned All-State recognition in 2009.

A second-round draft choice in 2014, when he was a wide receiver, Matthews has 274 receptions for 3,288 yards and 22 touchdowns in 77 NFL regular-season games.

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