Patriots Reportedly Placing Tyquan Thornton On Injured Reserve

For the second straight season, Tyquan Thornton will be unavailable for the opening month.

The New England Patriots are placing Thornton on injured reserve, according to multiple reports Wednesday. Because he was on the initial 53-man roster, he will be eligible to return after sitting out four games.

The move was not a surprise.

Thornton, who's battled a slew of setbacks in his young NFL career, suffered a shoulder injury on a diving reception during joint practices with the Green Bay Packers and hasn't practiced since. The 2022 second-round draft pick also struggled in training camp before that injury, falling behind Kendrick Bourne and rookie Demario Douglas on the depth chart.

The Patriots prepared for Thornton's layoff by including six receivers (including rookies Douglas and Kayshon Boutte) on their initial 53. JuJu Smith-Schuster, DeVante Parker and Kendrick Bourne project as the top three wideouts, with Douglas and Boutte filling the fourth and fifth spots, respectively.

The earliest Thornton can make his season debut is in Week 5, when the Patriots host the New Orleans Saints.

It was unclear as of Thursday morning whether New England planned to place any other players on short-term IR -- offensive tackle Riley Reiff was viewed as another candidate -- and how the team planned to fill Thornton's roster spot.

The Patriots included just two running backs on their cutdown-day roster, so quickly promoting Ty Montgomery from the practice squad would be a logical move.

The Patriots will open their season on Sept. 10 at home against the Philadelphia Eagles. New England's over/under win total for the 2023 season currently is 7.5 at FanDuel Sportsbook.