New England Patriots offensive lineman Marcus Cannon, who completed treatment for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in July, will be placed on the active roster this week, Bill Belichik indicated during a conference call on Tuesday.
Cannon, who fell to the fifth round in the 2011 NFL Draft due to concerns about his health, will be active for the first time in his career. He played four seasons at TCU and was widely regarded as one of the top offensive line prospects before the cancer. He did not give up a single sack in 2009 and led an offensive line that only surrendered nine sacks during the entire 2010 season.
"A lot of people have had their hand in getting him ready, between the trainers, the doctors, and Marcus himself," said Patriots personnel director Nick Caserio. "He's done everything that he's been asked to do. He's controlled the things he's controlled. This is a player we liked, coming out of TCU, a big guy, who's athletic. Like we talked about at the draft, football was the least important thing at the time. The most important thing was for him to get healthy. And we're at that point.
"We'll blend him into the mix. We'll put him on the roster," Caserio went on. "He'll be no different than any other player. We'll ask him to do the same things everybody else does. Work on his techniques, work on his fundamentals, improve and prepare to play. When is he going to play? When is that opportunity going to come? Nobody really knows at this point. The expectation is that he comes in, works hard, prepares to play. But this speaks volumes to him as a person, the doctors and the time they've invested. It's a credit to Marcus. I think there's a lot of people happy for him and look forward to continue to work with him in the future."
-- For more Patriots coverage, visit our team page, or our blog Pats Pulpit.