A bizarre week for the Patriots got even weirder as word came out this afternoon that they had surprisingly released second-year wide receiver Kenbrell Thompkins. From a production standpoint, this move makes sense since he's only caught six passes for 53 yards this season and been inactive for two of the last three games but not injured as far as we know.
Still, this former undrafted rookie was a guy that was hyped up last season by everyone in the organization and now they're deserting him? It's not like the Pats are loaded at wide receiver. Without him, they are left with only Julian Edelman, Danny Amendola, Brandon LaFell, Aaron Dobson and Matthew Slater (primarily a special teamer).
I read that this could be temporary and they could re-sign him next week (to save money I'm sure) but if he's on waivers, you'd have to think that somebody would claim him. He also has practice squad eligibility for what that's worth. I really don't understand this. He's not a star by any means and we haven't heard rumblings of drama with him (like Dobson) plus Brady supposedly enjoyed working with him. Last season he started eight games and had 32 catches for 446 yards and four touchdowns.
The final aspect of this that's unexplainable is that wide receiver Brian Tyms is eligible to be activated for tomorrow's do-or-die game vs. Bengals but New England won't do it. They're also leaving cornerback Brandon Browner inactive since they have the option to do that for a week coming off suspensions before they have to make a real decision. For Thompkins' roster spot, they promoted linebacker Ja'Gared Davis from the practice squad (to cover for Nate Ebner on special teams while he's out).
Needless to say, the Patriots could use a win in the worst way vs. Cincinnati. It certainly wouldn't cure all their problems but at least it would give them some type of positivity to rally around. There hasn't been any of that around them for weeks.
UPDATE 10/6: Thompkins was reportedly claimed off waivers by Oakland so there goes the idea that he'd be back here. Nice going Patriots. Browner and Tyms were both activated while the Pats released DL Joe Vellano and put DL Michael Buchanan on IR.
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