Here are the 5 Rockford-area football players who made NFL rosters in 2022

The 2022 NFL season kicks off Thursday night with the Buffalo Bills taking on the St. Louis Rams, and then a full slate of games kicks in this Sunday.

Five former Rockford-area high school players are expected to suit up this weekend: Dean Lowry of the Green Bay Packers; James Robinson and Dan Arnold of the Jacksonville Jaguars; Robert Jones of the Miami Dolphins; and Vederian Lowe of the Minnesota Vikings.

While one area player — former Harlem star Josh Black — was cut loose by his team late last month, five other guys from the area made their NFL teams' final rosters.

From 2021:Rockford has four players in the NFL. Meet them here.

Here is a breakdown of the six former Rockford-area athletes:

Dean Lowry, Green Bay Packers

The former Boylan Titans star who went on to star on Northwestern's defensive line as well, is slated to start at left defensive end for the Packers. This is the seventh year in the league for Lowry, the 6 foot 6, 296-pound defensive lineman. Lowry, who played on Boylan's back-to-back state championship teams, has missed only one game in his first six seasons, and ranks No. 2 on the Packers in regular-season games played (96) and No. 7 in starts (68) since 2016. He opens the season at Minnesota, 3:25 p.m. Sunday.

James Robinson, Jacksonville Jaguars

Robinson was quick to heal from a torn Achilles tendon and has a solid preseason and training camp. However, second-year back Travis Etienne has worked his way into the NFL-star-running-back conversations of late, and Robinson will most likely have to step up his game early on if he wants to get his full-time job back. The early portion of the season will be key. He opens the season at Washington, noon Sunday.

Dan Arnold, Jacksonville Jaguars

Arnold was traded to the Jaguars last year, and he came right in and played seven full games, posting 27 catches for 315 yards but no TDs. The arrival of TE-friendly coach Doug Pederson could help his cause this season, but Arnold now has more competition once the team acquired Evan Engram. Arnold is currently listed as the third tight end on the Jags' depth chart. He opens the season at Washington, noon Sunday.

Robert Jones, Miami Dolphins

Jones is listed as the team's second-team right guard, and there is no backup listed for left guard, which is most likely Jones' job as well. Bottom line: he will most likely get called into duty this season, and should see his first NFL playing time sooner than later. He just might show the NFL world how good he is very quickly. He opens vs. New England at noon Sunday.

Vederian Lowe, Minnesota Vikings

Lowe was a standout for the University of Illinois, and was then drafted in the sixth round by the Vikings. The former Auburn player has worked hard this summer, earning his way onto the Vikings' roster the hard way. After the last round of cuts, though, it's quite clear he did. And he could be in the league for a long time, as well. He is listed as the No. 3 left tackle headed into the season. He opens the season vs. Green Bay, 3:25 p.m. Sunday.

Growing up big:Auburn's Vederian Lowe latest giant learning to be gentle off the field, physical on it

Josh Black, NFL free agent

Black was invited to Chicago Bears rookie training camp back in the early portion of the summer, and after he didn't stick there, he agreed to terms to go to training camp with the New Orleans Saints. He had a promising start to camp and appeared to be on the right track, but the Saints wound up being pretty deep on the defensive line, and Black was part of the last cuts back on Aug. 28.

He was not picked up and signed to any practice squads as of this week, and Black has not returned phone calls.

He played six seasons at Syracuse, earning his bachelor's degree in health and exercise science and his master's degree in instructional design. In 60 games, he had 155 tackles, two fumble recoveries, an interception and two blocked kicks. He matched his career high with six tackles for loss in his final collegiate season.

Black has insisted all along that if he didn't make the NFL, he would fall back on his Plan B, which is to try out for the WWE professional wrestling organization. The 6-foot-3, 290-pounder has always said those are his two dreams.

"If the NFL doesn't pan out," Black said. "I'll give the WWE a shot."

There is no word on which dream he is chasing right now.

Jay Taft is a Rockford Register Star sports reporter. Email him at jtaft@rrstar.com and follow him on Twitter at @JayTaft. Sign up for the Rockford High School newsletter at rrstar.com. Jay has covered a wide variety of sports, from the Chicago Bears to youth sports, for more than 20 years at the Register Star, and for nearly 30 years all together. He was a four-sport athlete himself, and is the father of five that went on to be jocks of some kind as well.

This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: NFL 2022: Five from Rockford made final rosters for 2022 season