Patriots Place Corner On COVID List, Sign Two Players To Practice Squad

The New England Patriots made Shaun Wade’s move to the reserve/COVID-19 list official Monday.

That transaction was implied after the Patriots ruled the cornerback out for Sunday’s loss to the Miami Dolphins with an illness but did not include him on their inactive list.

Wade, a fifth-round rookie out of Ohio State, has been active for just three games this season, spending most of his first NFL campaign as a healthy scratch. He joins slot corner Myles Bryant and offensive tackle Yodny Cajuste on COVID reserve.

The Patriots also added two players to their practice squad Monday, signing cornerback D.J. Daniel and wide receiver Jaylen Smith.

Daniel is an undrafted rookie out of Georgia. Listed at 6-foot-1, 185 pounds, he spent time with the Jacksonville Jaguars last summer but was cut after their first preseason game.

Smith, a Louisville product, spent time with the Baltimore Ravens and Seattle Seahawks as an undrafted rookie in 2019 but did not appear in a game. He had been out of the NFL since the end of the 2019 season, most recently logging a brief stint with the Toronto Argonauts in the Canadian Football League.

The Patriots are preparing to visit the Buffalo Bills on Sunday in the wild-card round of the NFL playoffs. New England lost three of its final four games in the regular season to fall to the No. 6 seed in the AFC.