The New England Patriots finally have a second healthy option at tight end in recent acquisition Jordan Thomas.
Ryan Izzo has been the Patriots’ only active tight end over the last three weeks. He has three catches for 44 yards in that span.
Thomas was claimed off of waivers by the Arizona Cardinals on Monday, Nov. 9. He wasn’t eligible to play Week 9 against the New York Jets nor practice in the week leading up to the Patriots’ Week 10 win over the Baltimore Ravens as he went through COVID-19 protocols, including testing and quarantining.
But the Patriots were able to meet with Thomas via WebEx last week, and he’s been able to enter Gillette Stadium since Saturday. Thomas practiced with his new team Wednesday and Thursday and is expected back on the practice field Friday morning.
“He’s worked hard here,” Patriots head coach Bill Belichick said Friday morning. “You know, we were able to meet with him virtually and start to get caught up with some of the terminology and so forth but it’s been good to work with him on the field. We’ll just keep taking it day by day, see where that takes us, but he’s engaged, he’s all in, he wants to do well and we’re trying to catch him up as quickly as we can.”
Thomas is a massive target at 6-foot-5, 277 pounds with 34 1/8-inch arms and an 82 3/8-inch wingspan. He ran a 4.69-second 40-yard dash at his pro day in 2018 and has 22 career receptions for 226 yards with five touchdowns in 25 career games.
Patriots rookie tight ends Devin Asiasi (undisclosed) and Dalton Keene (knee) both are on injured reserve. Asiasi is eligible to return next week, while Keene must be out until December. Patriots practice squad tight end Jake Burt came off of injured reserve this week but wasn’t spotted at practice Thursday.
Thomas was selected by the Houston Texans in the sixth round of the 2018 NFL Draft. If active Sunday, he’d make his Patriots debut against the Texans in Houston.
