Patriots Sign Familiar Face After Placing Starter On Injured Reserve

The New England Patriots signed offensive lineman James Ferentz to the active roster Saturday, according to Mike Reiss of ESPN, bringing the 34-year-old up from the practice squad once again.

He’s got to be entering record territory at this point.

In making the jump from practice squad to the active roster, Ferentz has now been involved in more than two-dozen roster transactions since first joining New England in 2017. That’s a lot.

The Patriots had a spot open up for Ferentz after placing offensive tackle Conor McDermott on injured reserve. The 31-year-old was entered into the NFL’s concussion protocol after suffering an injury against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 15. His season is now over.

He was ruled out of the Christmas Eve matchup with the Denver Broncos early Saturday.

Ferentz hasn’t appeared in a game yet this season, but has been a fixture on New England’s sidelines.

“He’s been inactive for all the games, so his role on the sideline is to help us with his experience, interaction with his teammates and the experience that he has as a player,” Bill Belichick said in October, as transcribed by Jeremy Brener of Sports Illustrated. “He knows our system, you know, things that happen on the field that players see sometimes that coaches don’t see.”

The Patriots likely won’t need to use Ferentz for the remainder of the season, so his promotion is likely a token of appreciation from a team that has relied on him on many occasions over the past seven seasons.

New England and Denver will kick things off Sunday at 8:15 p.m. ET.