GREEN BAY — Even though they have had an opening on their 53-man roster for nearly two weeks, the Green Bay Packers lost cornerback Jumal Rolle from their practice squad on Wednesday, as Rolle signed with the Houston Texans, according to the Houston Chronicle's John McClain .

Rolle had a strong training camp but was released by the Packers on the final cutdown. He then re-signed with the practice squad and had been there until Wednesday. The Packers kept sixth-round pick Demetri Goodson over Rolle at cornerback on the 53-man roster.

Cornerbacks coach Joe Whitt loved Rolle's potential — Whitt likened him to starting cornerback Sam Shields last year because he was making make the jump from little Catawba College in Salisbury, N.C. — and after a year on the practice squad, he stepped forward in camp.

"He has a skill set that I like and he should be a guy that should be able to get the ball — zone-aware guy, so I'm pleased with him and it's about time that he started to come on. He wasn't where I wanted him early on but he's starting to get there," Whitt said during training camp. "He's a guy that's from a smaller school, so the learning curve is still there.

"The thing I'm not going to do with any of these young guys, that have a limited defensive background, the mistake I made with Sam in 2011 was taking him too fast. I'm going to make sure that the progression and the development of the player is proper, that I hit every angle before he's thrown out there and I'm not making that mistake with another player again."

Now, it'll be the Texans developing Rolle, even though the Packers' roster stands at 52 players after outside linebacker Andy Mulumba was placed on season-ending injured reserve on Sept. 19.

It's unclear why the Packers are holding that roster spot open or whether Rolle gave the Packers a chance to promote him to the 53-man roster before signing with Houston. Although the Packers are stacked at cornerback with Shields, Tramon Williams, Davon House, Casey Hayward, Jarrett Bush and Goodson, three of those players — Williams, House and Bush — are set to become free agents next spring.

Jason Wilde  wrote: