FOXBORO, Mass. — The New England Patriots could have their top 2019 draft pick back in the mix for this Sunday’s matchup with the Baltimore Ravens.
Wide receiver N’Keal Harry, the 32nd overall selection in this year’s draft, is eligible to be activated off injured reserve after sitting out the Patriots’ first eight games. Harry returned to practice two weeks ago and has impressed Patriots receivers coach Joe Judge with his work ethic.
“He’s working hard,” Judge said Monday. “He’s definitely enthusiastic to be back out there. He’s doing everything we ask him to do. We’re excited to have him out there, and we’ll see how he does this week and how it turns out.”
Harry has not played in a game since injuring his hamstring three snaps into New England’s preseason opener against the Detroit Lions. That injury also prevented the Arizona State product from practicing for the remainder of the summer, costing him valuable reps with quarterback Tom Brady and setting him back in his development.
“He missed a lot of ball from training camp until just recently (getting) back on the field, so there’s a lot of things that he had to rework to get back in the flow of things,” Judge said. “The speed of the game, the timing of the quarterbacks, reading the coverage and making adjustments — that’s all been something he’s had to get back into. You can’t just jump back into where you left off when you miss that amount of time. So every day, he’s working on just correcting little things here and there and not repeating them the next day.”
At 6-foot-4, 225 pounds with rare contested-catch ability, Harry is a candidate to eventually take over Josh Gordon’s old “X” receiver spot in the Patriots’ offense. Judge wouldn’t reveal how the rookie has been used in practice, however.
“I could tell you that,” the coach said, “but then I’d have to kill you.”
The Patriots have yet to officially add Harry to their 53-man roster. They can do so at any point this week or choose to wait until after Sunday’s game and integrate him back into the offense following their Week 10 bye, instead.
Harry must be activated by Tuesday, Nov. 5, however. If he is not, he would revert to IR and be ineligible to return this season. The Patriots also have a full roster after signing quarterback Cody Kessler on Monday, so they’ll need to make an additional move in order to add the rookie.
New England’s receiving corps currently consists of Julian Edelman, Phillip Dorsett, Mohamed Sanu, Jakobi Meyers and Gunner Olszewski. Sanu replaced Gordon in that group last week after arriving via trade from the Atlanta Falcons and caught two passes Sunday in his Patriots debut.
