The New England Patriots have made two roster moves prior to Sunday’s game against the Buffalo Bills, per ESPN’s Field Yates and NESN’s Doug Kyed.
First, the Patriots have released DT John Hughes to make space for TE Greg Scruggs. Scruggs is a former 2012 7th round pick out of Louisville. He was originally a defensive lineman, but signed with the Chicago Bears this past year and converted to tight end. The Patriots got a front row seat to watch Scruggs in practice during joint practices this preseason.
There’s also a chance the Patriots move Scruggs back to the defensive line because three defensive tackles is a pretty thin rotation. Hughes had been added to provide beef to the defensive rotation in place of Anthony Johnson, but apparently the Patriots think they’ll be fine for this weekend. Perhaps Scruggs will take Johnson’s role.
Second, the Patriots have signed fullback Glenn Gronkowski to the practice squad. The Patriots waived WR Da’Ron Brown from the practice squad to make room. Glenn is the brother of Patriots All Pro TE Rob Gronkowski. Glenn is the third Gronkowski brother to spend time with the team after TE Dan Gronkowski spent a few months with the squad in 2011.
Glenn spent all offseason with the Bills.
The Patriots have also worked out fullback Marcel Reece as the Patriots appear to be looking for extra blockers.
Scruggs joins Gronkowski, Martellus Bennett, Clay Harbor, and AJ Derby as tight ends on the active roster. RT Marcus Cannon might be unavailable due to a calf injury, so extra blockers will be valuable against the Bills. It could also imply the Patriots are going to run the ball a lot since whichever player at quarterback will not be at 100%.