After losing veteran quarterback Will Grier to the Los Angeles Chargers on Monday, the New England Patriots made a subsequent move of their own to round out their QB room.
According to the NFL’s Tom Pelissero, the Patriots have claimed Jaguars quarterback Nathan Rourke off waivers.
Rourke had spent the season on the Jaguars practice squad and was coming off his third elevation of the season, having been the club’s emergency quarterback against the Browns in Week 14.
Rourke was waived by the Jaguars on Friday, with the club hoping to get him back on their practice squad. That became even more important after Trevor Laurence ended up in concussion protocol in Sunday night’s game against Baltimore, with backup C.J. Beathard now expected to step in during Laurence’s absence.
Instead, Rourke now finds himself in an interesting spot here in New England with three games remaining. After Grier’s departure, Rourke now has an opportunity to add some competitiveness to a group that only has Bailey Zappe and Mac Jones currently in the fold, and he’s a fairly talented player.
The 25-year old is a former CFL standout who played on the BC Lions, setting a single-season record for completion percentage after completing 78.7% of his throws in 2022.
He worked out with a number of clubs following that year, signing a three-year deal in Jacksonville back in January of this year.
The 6’1″, 210-pound Rourke had a solid preseason, including a ridiculous showing against the Cowboys where he led all Jaguars quarterbacks after completing 9-of-17 for 153-yards along with a touchdown. He also carried the ball 6 times for 20-yards and ran for a touchdown.
However, he made an incredible throw under serious pressure in that game (click the video below to watch it on YouTube), along with showing some pretty good strength and accuracy.
He finished the exhibition season completing 23-of-35 for 348 yards (65.7%) along with a touchdown, while also not throwing any interceptions. He also ran the ball 14 times for 39 yards, including a touchdown.
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Ian Logue is a Seacoast native and owner and senior writer for PatsFans.com, an independent media site covering the New England Patriots and has been running this site in one form or another since 1997.
