Devin Asiasi won’t get his first target against the 49ers: The rookie tight end a healthy scratch.
In his place, fellow third-round pick Dalton Keene is making his NFL debut. Keene was battling a neck injury early in the season, but had been healthy scratch in favor of Asiasi in New England’s last two losses.
Keene played some H-back in college, so the Patriots could get creative with his usage against San Francisco.
“I think they tried to do a lot of different things with me (at Virginia Tech),” Keene said after the draft.