Tyquan Thornton has been unable to practice or play since Week 2 of the New England Patriots preseason. But the rookie wideout has continued to progress behind the scenes, according to one of his position coaches.
Patriots assistant wide receivers coach Ross Douglas on Tuesday praised Thornton for his dedication while he recovers from a fractured collarbone on injured reserve.
Douglas would not say, however, whether Thornton will be ready to return to the field this week. The second-round draft pick is eligible to be activated off IR after sitting out the Patriots' first four games.
"One thing about Tyquan, ever since he got hurt against Carolina and he had the collarbone injury, he's been locked in," Douglas said in a video conference. "He's been dedicated to his rehab process. So even though he hasn't been able to do a lot of things physically, he's been on top of the mental part of the game. He's meeting with us early in the morning and staying on top of his assignments and watching tape from wide receivers around the league, just how he can improve his game moving forward.
"But physically, when will he be ready? It just all depends how he responds to his rehab, and we'll kind of see where he's at moving forward."
Patriots radio color man Scott Zolak on Tuesday reported he's heard Thornton is "close" to returning and "getting back to normal." Thornton on Saturday shared a video of himself working out in a backyard, wearing his Patriots helmet and receiver gloves. But the rail-thin pass-catcher's exact recovery timetable remains unclear.
There's also no guarantee Thornton, a training camp standout, will be an immediate impact player after such a long layoff. But Douglas believes having New England's large collection of veteran receivers around him on a daily basis has prevented the rookie from falling too far behind.
"Tyquan really came into a good situation because you have so many guys in that room who have played a lot of football, a lot of years in the league," Douglas said. "They've been successful, they've produced a whole lot. So he came in as a rookie being able to look up to a guy like a Nelson Agholor, DeVante Parker, Jakobi Meyers, Kendrick Bourne -- guys who have done it, some guys who had played in Super Bowls, some guys who have won a lot of games in this league.
"So he's truly fortunate to be able to develop behind those guys and really, truly learn from them. It's a very ideal circumstance for him to continue his development as a young player."
The Patriots, who host the Detroit Lions this Sunday at Gillette Stadium, might need to make a roster move at receiver once Thornton is ready to return. Their current receiving corps features Meyers, Parker, Agholor, Bourne and wideout/tight end hybrid Lil'Jordan Humphrey. Meyers has missed the last two games with a knee injury.
