Patriots Make Notable Roster Move As Illness Sweeps Through Locker Room

The New England Patriots did some slight tinkering with their roster on Thursday.

New England announced that offensive lineman Sebastian Gutierrez was re-signed to the practice squad and cornerback Miles Battle was released from the practice squad just days ahead of its wild-card matchup with the Los Angeles Chargers at Gillette Stadium.

Gutierrez, 27, briefly spent time on the club’s practice squad in 2022, before bouncing around and spending time with the Las Vegas Raiders, Kansas City Chiefs, San Francisco 49ers, Cleveland Browns and Indianapolis Colts.

Battle, 25, has bounced between the practice squad and active roster for two seasons, most recently being released from the active roster on Dec. 29 and signed back to the practice squad on Jan. 1.

Garrett Bradbury and Vederian Lowe each missed the first two practices of the week with illnesses, so the addition of an offensive lineman who knows the system was important in order to prepare for the worst. Morgan Moses also missed one practice with an illness before ultimately returning, while Thayer Munford Jr. was downgraded from a limited participant to a non-participant during the week.

The Patriots’ active roster is currently full, meaning there could be another move made in order to activate cornerback Alex Austin from injured reserve before the deadline on Saturday.