UAB Professional Athletes

A brutal moment in a joint practice has UAB fans holding their breath.

Browns defensive end Alex Wright — a UAB product — was carted off the field with a lower-leg injury during Cleveland's joint practice session with the Buffalo Bills this week, casting serious doubt on his availability heading into the regular season. The sight of a cart on a practice field is never good, but the circumstances here amplify the alarm: Wright is a key piece of Cleveland's defensive front, and the NFL free-agent market offers the Browns precious little in the way of immediate replacements if the injury proves severe.

Details on the exact nature of the injury remain limited, but the lower-leg designation and the manner in which Wright left the field — unable to walk off under his own power — signal the kind of setback that can derail a season before it starts. Cleveland's defensive depth along the line was already under the microscope entering camp; Wright's health was a foundational assumption in how the Browns intended to build their front four. That assumption is now in question.

For UAB alumni tracking Wright's career, the timing stings. The former Blazer had carved out a legitimate role in the NFL, developing from a raw, high-upside edge rusher into a reliable contributor in Cleveland's defensive scheme. Losing him — even temporarily — would represent a meaningful blow not just to the Browns, but to the growing profile of UAB talent in the league.

The Browns' front office faces a difficult calculus. If imaging confirms a significant injury, Cleveland will need to act quickly in a thin market. As Yahoo Sports noted, the options in free agency are limited, putting pressure on the roster's existing depth to absorb the hit. Whether that depth can hold is one of the more pressing questions the Browns will face in the final stretch of the preseason.

There are no other notable UAB alumni storylines from around the league during this period — this week, Wright's injury is the headline, the concern, and the story all at once. His fellow Blazers active in the NFL — from Darious Williams suiting up for the Rams to Starling Thomas V in Arizona — will be watching from a distance, as will everyone who has tracked UAB's quiet but steady pipeline into professional football.

Updates on Wright's prognosis are expected as the Browns work through their final preseason preparations. For now, the cart ride off a joint-practice field is the image that defines UAB's NFL week.

For Tejhaun Palmer, the path to an NFL roster just took another turn — this time landing him in New England.

The Patriots claimed the wide receiver off waivers this week, giving the UAB product a fresh shot after his time with the Arizona Cardinals came to an end. Palmer originally entered the league as a sixth-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, making him one of the more recent Blazers to crack an NFL roster. The Patriots' move also required a corresponding transaction, with the team waiving tight end Jeremiah Franklin to make room.

New England's decision to put in a waiver claim on Palmer signals at least some organizational interest in what he can bring to a receiver room still very much in flux. For a UAB program that has steadily fed players into professional football, Palmer's continued presence on an active roster — now with his second NFL organization — is another data point in the Blazers' growing footprint at the game's highest level.

A Program That Keeps Producing

Palmer isn't the only UAB alumnus with NFL work to find this summer. The Blazers have a notable contingent of former players scattered across the league heading into the 2026 preseason:

• Spencer Brown is competing at running back with the Atlanta Falcons.
• Austin Watkins Jr. is with the Philadelphia Eagles at wide receiver, giving UAB two pass-catchers currently on NFL rosters.
• DeWaine McBride is with the Minnesota Vikings backfield, continuing a run of UAB backs making noise in the pros.
• Darious Williams remains with the Los Angeles Rams at cornerback, one of the more established UAB alumni in the league.
• Alex Wright is with the Cleveland Browns at defensive end.
• Starling Thomas V is on the Arizona Cardinals' roster at cornerback — the same team Palmer just departed.
• Kadeem Telfort (Packers, LB), Desmond Little (Colts, LB), and Chris Hubbard (Lions, T) round out a deep alumni presence across both conferences.

For a program in Conference USA, that kind of NFL distribution is genuinely impressive. Ten former Blazers currently attached to NFL rosters reflects years of development work in Birmingham that doesn't always get its due nationally.

Palmer's situation is the most immediate storyline to track. Waivers claims in early August are inherently high-risk, high-reward moves — teams are betting on upside, and roster spots are still very much up for grabs as training camps heat up. Whether he sticks through final cuts will be the real test, but for now, the UAB wideout has bought himself more time to make a case.