Patriots Add Former First Round WR to Their Active Roster
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After the club waived Malik Cunningham, it looks like the Patriots are making a move at receiver to take his place on the active roster.
According to the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the New England Patriots have signed Jalen Reagor to the active roster, which is a continuation of the ascent he’s seen in recent weeks.
With JuJu Smith-Schuster sidelined with a concussion and DeVante Parker struggling, Reagor has seen some action over the last two games, and appears potentially poised for more.
Reagor, who was originally drafted in the first round by the Eagles in 2020 (21st overall), appeared in 14 snaps in Las Vegas and saw that total increase to 25 on Sunday, which included one grab for 11-yards in their win over the Bills.
Like many past contributors, he’s a player the Patriots saw up close after he had previous success against them, including catching a 25-yard pass in their meeting on Thanksgiving last season when Reagor was with the Vikings.
That play came on a 3rd-and-7 for Minnesota. It also extended the drive and led to the game-tying field goal for the Vikings, who eventually walked away with a 33-26 win.
Now that he’s in New England, the Patriots have seemingly been focused on changing things up after a tough start, and it appears to be coming at the expense of two guys in both Smith-Schuster and Parker, who have each struggled to be productive so far this season.
The two are tied with 14 receptions with Demario Douglas, who continues his upward trajectory, having made a couple of key grabs in Sunday’s win.
Douglas has been one of the few bright spots for New England’s receiving corps, while both Parker and Smith-Schuster have continued having a tough time getting any consistent production.
Based on what we’ve seen, speed and quickness was seemingly the focus Sunday, and that looks to be the trend moving forward after Reagor’s promotion.
Unfortunately, what that means for both of those veterans is obviously the key question. But sitting at 2-5, give the Patriots credit for not continuing to try and pound a square peg into a round hole and admitting changes were needed.
Meanwhile, Reagor got some praise from Jones on Wednesday, who gave him credit for his progress and how well he’s settled into the offense.
“He’s great. Jalen, seen him in college, seen his college tape. He’s a very fast football player,” said Jones. “He does a great job learning the playbook quickly and one of the other things is in practice just how impressive he is in getting open, finishing and catching the ball.”
“So, I really have a lot of respect for him and how he works. Hopefully, he can continue to grow.”
(Editor’s Note: Portions of the above appeared in this morning’s news and notes column.)
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