Josh Gordon Return Makes Patriots-Titans Game Paramount For Receivers

Josh Gordon is officially reinstated, and that’s more than good news for the New England Patriots. Well, not all of them. Some of the receivers will have to fight to keep their job on Sunday.

The Patriots will receive a roster exemption for Gordon after he was conditionally reinstated from his suspension Saturday. Well, if they don’t, the team will have to eliminate one of their players to add the receiver to their preseason roster.

The receiver squad is crowded. Demaryius Thomas is on the physically unable to perform list. Well, he did wind sprints in practice Thursday as he rehabs an Achilles injury.

Thomas, Cameron Meredith and Julian Edelman are still on PUP and non-football injury list. Phillip Dorsett, Maurice Harris and N’Keal Harris aren’t expected to play Saturday. The Patriots receiving unit against the Titans will be comprised of Braxton Berrios, Ryan Davis, Dontrelle Inman, Jakobi Meyers, Gunner Olszewski and Damoun Patterson.

One or two of these players will be included on the Patriots’ 53-man roster joining Edelman, Gordon, Harry and Dorsett and/or Thomas. Meyers is considered a near-lock at this point of the year based on what he did in training camp and the preseason opener.

For the other players, the game against the Titans will provide a lot of opportunities. It will be black or white for some of them.

Berries has the edge over Davis, Olszewski, Inman and Patterson because of his skills. Let’s not forget his return ability on punts and kickoffs. He’s a slot receiver who worked a lot with the first-team this summer while Edelman recovered from his thumb injury.

Davis is another slot receiver, and he won’t go any further than the Patriots practice squad. He may be the last on the receiver depth chart at the moment.

Inman is a veteran receiver who hasn’t been too far from the younger receivers. He was expected to do a lot of great things this summer.

Meyers is probably the best of the group, and he will make the roster in September.

Things are getting really interesting, and Gordon changed everything for the Patriots receivers.