Following their preseason finale on Thursday, the New England Patriots received a needed weekend off as the front office dwindled the roster down to 53 players.
That group was back at Gillette Stadium on Tuesday for their first regular season practice in preparation for the Seattle Seahawks.
As they did, they remained without running back TreVeyon Henderson after the second-year back suffered an ankle injury early last week. Henderson was present in the locker room in good spirits and walking normally,
but has not yet fully been cleared to return to work.
The only other non-participant on the roster was tight end Cameron Latu, who was claimed off of waivers on Monday. Latu was in the locker room ahead of practice after just arriving to the team.
Fellow waiver claim, Darius Muasau, was on the practice field.
“Just guys that have really played NFL games, meaningful football games,” Mike Vrabel said. “Darius has shown the ability to play both spots inside. Zak [Kuhr] had some comfort and some familiarity with him in New York. I was with Cam during my time in Cleveland and really enjoyed kind of getting to know him and being able to work with him and try to help him.
“We had some conversations about him last year and he went on to do some really good things to help Philadelphia and then, you know, we just thought it’d be a good opportunity to add somebody that has excelled at special teams and also looking to earn a role at tight end.”
The Patriots will continue to tinker with their 53-man roster and practice squad as Mike Vrabel stated they have brought in up to 10 new faces since the preseason finale. Several of those are expected to be announced later Tuesday afternoon.
They will then be back on the practice fields on Thursday and this weekend before departing for Seattle on Monday.
