The Patriots did us all a favor Thursday, formally announcing that Tyquan Thornton and Bailey Zappe — among others — no longer will wear jersey numbers in the 50s.
It’s a longstanding tradition that Bill Belichick assigns random (and oftentimes awkward) temporary numbers to incoming New England rookies. That again was the case this summer, with multiple Patriots freshmen wearing numbers that just didn’t look right.
Well, ahead of Thursday night’s preseason opener against the New York Giants, the Patriots revealed more appropriate numbers for the rookie class.
Here’s the full list:
WR Tyquan Thornton: 11
OL Cole Strange: 69
CB Marcus Jones: 25
RB Pierre Strong: 35
CB Jack Jones: 34
QB Bailey Zappe: 4
DL Sam Roberts: 96
RB Kevin Harris: 36
OL Chasen Hines: 63
OL Andrew Stueber: 64
DL LaBryan Ray: 74
C Kody Russey: 66
S/ST Brenden Schooler: 41
DT DaMarcus Mitchell: 97
P Jake Julien: 9
It’s worth noting that these numbers still could change before the start of the regular season. To that end, No. 28 just opened up, with running back James White announcing his retirement moments before the Patriots sent out the rookie numbers list.
New England will host the Giants at 7 p.m. ET.
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