Patriots Trade Acquisition Non-Factor Before Landing On IR

The New England Patriots probably were better off not trading Pierre Strong to the Cleveland Browns during training camp.

Tyrone Wheatley Jr., who New England acquired in the trade with Cleveland, landed on injured reserve Saturday with a knee injury. The 26-year-old was added to the Patriots’ injury report Wednesday despite not playing in a game since Week 2 against the Miami Dolphins.

The decision to trade for Wheatley was an easy one, with the Patriots having a desperate need at tackle as training camp came to its conclusion. New England finished its preseason schedule with a number of injuries at the position, with Calvin Anderson, Conor McDermott and Riley Reiff all sidelined at the time of the trade.

McDermott and Reiff eventually hit IR themselves, with the former getting released in September and the latter making his return this past week against the New Orleans Saints. Reiff, though, re-injured his knee and will miss Sunday’s matchup with the Las Vegas Raiders. Anderson started in two games, but has been used as a rotational tackle (ahead of Wheatley) since.

Wheatley played nine total snaps, all on special teams, before landing on IR. Strong, however, has begun to play for the Brown following Nick Chubb’s injury. He has 77 yards on 13 attempts this season, finding the end zone once.

The Patriots enter their matchup with the Raiders with Vederian Lowe in line to start at right tackle opposite Trent Brown.