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The New England Patriots worked out two intriguing players heading into their Week 1 showdown against the Cincinnati Bengals, signing one of them.
The team brought cornerback Caleb Farley and offensive lineman Caleb Jones in for tryouts, ultimately signing the 6-foot-9, 270-pound Jones to the practice squad. In a corresponding move, the Pats released defensive end Brevin Allen.
A first-round pick for the Tennessee Titans out of Virginia Tech in 2021 (No. 22 overall), Farley spent his first two seasons in Tennessee, playing in 12 games and starting two.
Back injuries have plagued Farley his entire career dating back to college, however. He missed the entire 2023 season after having back surgery at the end of 2022. Farley also tore his ACL towards the end of his rookie year. It remains to be seen if New England’s interest in him will go beyond a tryout.
A Bit of Background on New Patriots OL Signing Caleb Jones
“Caleb Jones is an absolute behemoth,” Sports Illustrated wrote in its 2022 draft profile on the newest member of New England’s PS. “Jones displays a good understanding in pass protection of how to use his length and size. Teams will fall in love with his physical profile and look to develop,” SI added, also noting some concerning weaknesses:
“Poor footwork and lack of explosiveness limit his upside at the next level. He struggles versus edge rushers with speed and burst and plays with too high of pad level. Lacks the bend, balance and burst to be a high end tackle. No real recovery due to lack of core strength and hip flexibility.”
Jones signed with the Green Bay Packers as an undrafted free agent in 2022 after spending his collegiate career at the University of Indiana. He spent the bulk of his rookie year on Green Bay’s practice squad, getting elevated to the roster later in the year, but never playing.
He appeared in one game for the Packers in 2023, playing on special teams only. Jones looked solid in three games throughout the 2024 preseason, though. In 31 pass block snaps, he allowed just one hurry, per PFF.
He’s only a practice squad addition, but with the recent injuries New England has been dealing with on the offensive line, getting activated to the active roster isn’t out of the question.
Patriots Head Coach Jerod Mayo Says Team Still Is Trying to Find ‘Best’ 5 OL
Patriots starting left tackle Vederian Lowe has been dealing with a minor oblique issue, and has been limited leading up to New England’s Week 1 matchup against the Bengals.
When asked about Lowe’s injury on September 2, Pats head coach Jerod Mayo said the team is still unsure whether the starting LT will be good to go against Cincinatti.
“We had a tough training camp. There are definitely things that popped up,” Mayo said. “We’ll see if those guys are ready to play. But right now, we just have to move forward. We talked about that next man up mentality. We don’t know if he’ll be at the game or not. He may wake up tomorrow – talking about Lowe – feeling great. I mean, I just don’t know.”
“But going back to what we’ve done the entire training camp as far as moving people around, we were trying to find our best five while at the same time building depth through the guys that we have on the team. So, that’s the difficult part of it,” Mayo added.
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