The New England Patriots trimmed their roster to 53 players on Friday night, meeting the NFL's deadline and threshold for the regular season. The Pats made 23 roster moves, waiving 22 players and placing rookie Jeff Demps on IR to get down to 53. Demps, a Florida speedster and track star, was signed in mid-August but was injured in the Pats' final preseason game against the Giants. The Patriots did not disclose whether he had been placed on season-ending IR or the new shortened version of the list, which allows a player to return to practice after six weeks.
In addition to the Demps move, the Pats released 22 players, including veteran wideout Deion Branch. The complete list of cuts:
- WR Deion Branch
- S Sergio Brown
- WR Jeremy Ebert
- OL Derek Dennis
- DL Marcus Harrison
- WR Jesse Holley
- QB Brian Hoyer
- S James Ihedigbo
- FB Eric Kettani
- OL Matt Kopa
- C Dan Koppen
- LB Niko Koutouvides
- DL Aaron Lavarias
- S Derrick Martin
- TE Alex Silvestro
- LB Jeff Tarpinian
- WR Kerry Taylor
- TE Tyler Urban
- OL Dustin Waldron
- OL Jeremiah Warren
- OL Darrion Weems
- S Malcolm Williams
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