Patriots practice update: RB D.J. Foster participates in positional drills

New England Patriots RB Dion Lewis will miss the next 8-10 weeks due to a knee surgery and James White is expected to be his replacement. One player that received a lot of praise as a possible threat to White, but has been limited by injury, is undrafted rookie D.J. Foster, who took a step in the right direction in practice today.

Foster had not been participating in full drills due to a hamstring injury and he appears to be well enough to join the rest of the team.

WR Keshawn Martin will be fighting for a roster spot, too, so his return is a positive sign.

Both Foster and Martin are leaving the “conditioning squad” that is still full will key players.

WR Danny Amendola, RB Donald Brown, OG Tre Jackson, LB Shea McClellin, WR Malcolm Mitchell, and ED Rob Ninkovich are not well enough to participate in full drills, but they’re working their way back from minor injuries.

It is unknown what is hampering McClellin, but at least he is on the field, unlike the following players:

QB Tom Brady (excused), DT Alan Branch (team suspension), CB V’Angelo Bentley (released by the team), S Pat Chung (?), OG Jonathan Cooper (foot), TE Rob Gronkowski (lower body), RB Dion Lewis (knee surgery), OG Shaq Mason (broken hand), ED Jabaal Sheard (unknown), and OT Sebastian Vollmer (pretty much every body part is hurt) are not at practice.

Chung is a new addition and hopefully he is okay. He’s a crucial part of the Patriots defensive plans. Sheard is now on his second week of absences.

One player that has made some progress is cornerback Logan Ryan, who was approved for contact.

It’s nice to see Ryan out there and he adds depth to a quality roster of cornerbacks. Let’s hope he, and the rest of the Patriots, can remain healthy for the rest of the preseason.