Bill Belichick: Patriots Haven’t Decided To Make Roster Moves Before Thursday

FOXBORO, Mass. — The New England Patriots might wait until after Thursday night’s game against the New York Jets to place linebacker Jerod Mayo and running back Stevan Ridley on injured reserve.

The Patriots have a short week, with just one day of regular practice, so there likely isn’t enough time to get a new player acclimated to the system before facing the Jets.

“I think that’s something that we’re just going to have to evaluate here in the next day or two,” Belichick said Tuesday on a conference call about making a roster move. “I’ve talked with (Patriots director of player personnel) Nick Caserio and our coaching staff and Nick’s staff and we’ll just have to try to figure it all out here.

“Like you said, it’s a real short week. So, we’ll just have to take all those things into consideration and try to figure out what we’re going to do — if we would make one and who it would be and so forth. We haven’t decided that yet. We’ll see how it goes here.”

The Patriots worked out five linebackers on Monday, but according to multiple sources, the Patriots are waiting until Friday to add anyone from outside the organization. The Patriots could look to sign a player from the practice squad as late as Wednesday, however.

“Look, we tell the practice squad, all those players every week, that they’re one sprained ankle or one day away from being active,” Belichick said when asked if the Patriots could promote running back Jonas Gray. “We’ve made those moves as late as the day before the game — Saturdays on a Sunday game and things like that. Those players prepare every week to be ready to play both on offense or defense and in the kicking game. As you know, we’ve done that before. That’s the same for them every week. There’s no difference for them this week or from any other week. They’re on the roster, on the practice squad, they’re potentially on the roster for the game. So, they prepare for the game as if they are on the roster. If that happens, it happens. If it doesn’t, then we go to next week.”

Gray and linebacker Darius Fleming are the obvious choices to sign off the practice squad, but the Patriots also could elect to roll with who they already have on their 53-man roster Thursday night. Rookie James White has been inactive in five of six games this season, so he likely will see an increase in reps this week with Ridley out. The Patriots’ depth at linebacker depends on whether Dont’a Hightower, who has missed two straight games, can play.