Patriots re-sign Demaryius Thomas; place first-round rookie N’Keal Harry on injured reserve

When cutdown weekend was said and done, the New England Patriots had seven wide receivers on their roster. One of them, however, will be moved to injured reserve today if a report by ESPN’s Adam Schefter is to be believed: N’Keal Harry, the Patriots’ first-round draft pick this April, will be placed on the list after struggling with ankle injuries throughout training camp and preseason. However, Harry is expected to return.

The NFL allows teams to bring two players back from IR each season, and Harry is an eligible candidate for this route considering that he was on the 53-man roster through cutdown day. While he will have to sit out the first eight weeks of the season, today’s move should give him plenty of time to get healthy again. Don’t be surprised if the team keeps him out of game-action until after the week ten bye, however.

With Harry off the roster, the Patriots had one open spot and they spent it on a player that was expected back immediately after his release on Saturday: as Schefter also reported, New England re-signed wide receiver Demaryius Thomas. The veteran, who started the summer on the physically unable to perform list, was activated late in preseason but looked tremendous during last Thursday’s game against the New York Giants.