Updates have come in over the last 24 hours on the statuses of two injured New England Patriots wide receivers.
First-round draft pick N’Keal Harry, who hasn’t practiced since suffering a reportedly minor injury during last week’s preseason opener against the Detroit Lions, flew back to Boston from Nashville, Tenn., on Thursday after the Patriots’ second joint practice with the Tennessee Titans, according to a report from WEEI.com’s Ryan Hannable.
That means Harry will not be in attendance when the Patriots and Titans square off Saturday night at Nissan Stadium in Week 2 of the preseason. The Arizona State product arrived in pads at each joint practice this week but did not participate in any team or positional drills.
A report last week from the Boston Herald’s Kevin Duffy indicated Harry is expected to be healthy in time for New England’s regular-season opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Don’t expect to see wideout Maurice Harris in action Saturday night, either. Tom E. Curran of NBC Sports Boston on Friday reported Harris “has a lower-leg injury that will be a while.”
Harris sat out the end of Wednesday’s joint practice and did not attend Thursday’s session. The 26-year-old former Washington Redskin caught three passes on five targets for 27 yards and a touchdown against the Lions.
All told, at least six Patriots receivers currently are battling injuries. Phillip Dorsett was present but did not participate Thursday as he nursed an apparent thumb/hand ailment that knocked him out of Wednesday’s practice. Julian Edelman (non-football injury list, thumb), Demaryius Thomas (physically unable to perform list, Achilles) and Cameron Meredith (PUP, knee) all have yet to take the field this summer.
Edelman and Thomas both made the trip to Nashville and were present at both practices, running through various conditioning drills in workout clothes.
Jakobi Meyers, Braxton Berrios, Dontrelle Inman, Gunner Olszewski, Damoun Patterson and Ryan Davis were the Patriots’ only active receivers Thursday. All six saw reps with Tom Brady and the first-team offense this week. Of that group, only Inman has caught a pass in a regular-season NFL game.
