Christian Barmore Return: When Will Patriots Activate Star?

The Patriots are expected to open Christian Barmore’s practice window on Thursday.

It’ll probably be a while before he’s seen anywhere other than the practice fields behind Gillette Stadium, however.

New England will be thrilled to welcome back the 25-year-old, who landed on the non-football illness list after it was discovered he had blood clots during the early portion of training camp. It’s expected that the timing of his return will still keep him out of the gameday lineup for another few weeks, though.

The Patriots would have until Dec. 5 (their bye week) to activate the 2021 second-round pick off the reserve list if they were to open his practice window on Thursday, as pointed out by Dakota Randall of Pro Football Network. Barmore likely will need the full window to be ready for game action, which means the likeliest return date would be Dec. 15 against the Arizona Cardinals.

Barmore’s return to practice was expected, with Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo making the relatively surprising admission that it would come sooner rather than later on Wednesday.

It’s here, but No. 90 still has boxes to check before we see him back on the field.