Carl Davis reportedly back at Patriots practice, designated to return from injured reserve

The New England Patriots returned from their mini bye on Wednesday to start their on-field preparation for the upcoming game against the Miami Dolphins. Also among those participating were wide receiver Julian Edelman and linebacker Shilique Calhoun, who were both designated to return from injured reserve. One day later, another member of the team’s IR list was back at practice.

As first reported by Mike Dussault of patriots.com, defensive tackle Carl Davis returned to practice on Thursday. Just like Edelman and Calhoun, he is therefore now set to return off injured reserve and the Patriots have 21 days to activate him to their 53-man roster. If they decide against such a transaction, he will remain on IR for the remainder of the year (i.e. a potential but unlikely New England playoff run).

Davis was originally sent to the reserve list after the Patriots’ loss against the Houston Texans in Week 11. While he did not suffer any obvious injury during the game, he did miss two of New England’s practices during the week leading up to the game because of a concussion — an ailment that already forced him to miss two games earlier this season — and was listed as questionable heading into the weekend.

After missing three games, Davis was eligible to return to practice this week. While he was not present for Wednesday’s session, he was spotted on Thursday. Once Davis returns to the active roster, he will join an interior defensive line also consisting of Lawrence Guy, Adam Butler, Deatrich Wise Jr, Byron Cowart, Isaiah Mack and Akeem Spence. The team also has Nick Thurman and Bill Murray on its practice squad.