Due to an offseason rule change, each NFL team now has the possibility to bring two players back to their active roster that previously have been placed on the injured reserve list. The first player the New England Patriots opted to designate as a returnee was linebacker Shea McClellin, who suffered a setback in practice and thus remained on injured reserve.
Despite McClellin not getting activated to the active 53-man roster, New England only has one return designation left – and there are two realistic options to use them on, both second-year players: The Patriots could either opt to bring back wide receiver Malcolm Mitchell, who has been placed on injured reserve on September 7, or defensive tackle Vincent Valentine, who joined the list two weeks later.