Coming out of their bye week, the New England Patriots have to make a decision on the status of two rookie players. Linebacker Cameron McGrone and defensive back Joshuah Bledsoe are currently still on the non-football injury list (NFI), but their 21-day activation window will soon close: New England has until Tuesday to either activate them to the 53-man roster or shut them down for the remainder of the year.
McGrone and Bledsoe were selected in the fifth and sixth rounds of this year’s draft, respectively, but were sidelined throughout the spring due to injury: McGrone was coming off a torn ACL suffered during his final season at the University of Michigan; Bledsoe hurt his wrist during the Senior Bowl in January and later required surgery.