Patriots Release Fan-Favorite Offseason Acquisition

Getty New England Patriots

The New England Patriots now have Tyquan Thornton healthy and ready to perform and that means New England had to make some roster moves.

Thornton appeared in the first regular season game of his NFL career when the Patriots beat the  Detroit Lions. The rookie wide receiver had two receptions for seven yards per Pro Football Reference. 

With Thornton being a part of New England’s offensive plans moving forward, the Patriots announced that they had waived Lil’Jordan Humphrey.

Over the first five games of the 2022 season, Humphrey caught two passes for 20 yards per Pro Football Reference. He also played 41 percent of the Patriots’ offensive snaps in those games, including an 82 percent usage rate in Week 3 against Baltimore which was the second-highest of all wide receivers on the team. Humphrey was even receiving more playing time than an experienced wide receiver in Kendrick Bourne.

Could Humphrey Come Back to the Patriots?

There’s speculation that Humphrey’s time in New England isn’t over. ESPN’s Mike Reiss believes that Humphrey could return to the practice squad.

“With rookie WR Tyquan Thornton off IR, the Patriots have some depth at receiver, which factors into the release of Lil’Jordan Humphrey,” Reiss tweeted. “Would anticipate Humphrey is a strong possibility to land back on the practice squad if he clears waivers.”

New England’s practice squad will likely see some changes going into Week 6. With Damien Harris slated to miss multiple games, J.J. Taylor and Kevin Harris are possible players who can be elevated from the practice squad to add depth at running back to the active roster. Rookie Pierre Strong Jr. will also see an increase in his playing time.

But there is a chance that fans can see Humphrey in a Patriots uniform once again. New England has dealt with multiple injuries on offense and with an 18-week season, more injuries are bound to pop up.

Former Patriots WR Details Struggles of Super Bowl LI

Danny Amendola might be known for the great plays that he made on the field but during Super Bowl LI, the wide receiver struggled. The wide receiver was a big part of the game for New England. Amendola caught eight passes and reached the end zone once. The wide receiver also had a two-point conversion.

Amendola ended the game with 78 yards in total and averaged 9.8 yards per reception. He appeared on Julian Edelman’s “Games with Names” podcast and talked about he lost 10 pounds during the game.

“I lost 10 pounds that game, of just water weight, just sweating. I remember I got four IVs total for the whole game, two before and then two at halftime,” said Amendola. “We knew they were going to play a lot of man coverage on second and third down, so we knew we were going to have running routes as opposed to sitting down in zones and kind of working at a slower pace in zone routes. So we knew we were going to be running all night. Thank God that the halftime was so long.”