Report: New England Patriots Sign Receiver, O-Lineman

The New England Patriots made a few changes to their practice squad Tuesday, and signed two players prior to Monday’s game against the New York Jets. They added a receiver and offensive lineman.

Center/guard Tyler Gauthier who spent the spring and summer with the Patriots before being cut during the final roster trimming. Wide receiver Devin Ross is a second-year pro, and he was also signed by the team. Ross was waived by the Philadelphia Eagles in July.

Both players were seen in practice on Tuesday.

Ross is 24, and he played his college football at Colorado. He was able to catch 143 passes for 1,643 yards and nine touchdowns in four seasons. The receiver was undrafted in 2018, and spent his rookie season with the Tennessee Titans as part of their practice squad. He hasn’t played a regular-season NFL game.

Gauthier was a free agent since the Pats released him Aug. 31. The Miami player was drafted by the St. Louis BattleHawks of the XFL on Tuesday.

The Patriots cut kicker Younghoe Koo and tight end Jason vander Laan from the practice squad to make enough room for the two new players. Offensive tackle Dan Skipper was claimed by the Houston Texans, as confirmed by a report from ESPN’s Mike Reiss which leaves the Patriots with one open practice squad team.

The Jets still hope to have a chance against the Patriots mostly because of the struggles the team had in the game against the New York Giants.

“New England’s receiver position is in flux after the ill-fated experiment with Antonio Brown and Josh Gordon’s knee injury,” Bob Glauber wrote. “Gordon apparently escaped serious injury against the Giants, but his status is in question.

“That’s not good news for a receiving corps that already was challenged, at least by Patriots standards. Super Bowl MVP Julian Edelman still is a mainstay, but the Patriots were so short at receiver against the Giants that they used rookie free agent Gunner Olszewski, a Division II defensive back out of Bemidji State in Minnesota, who had made the team as a punt returner.”

Let’s see what happens by Monday.