FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - The New England Patriots announced today that RB Kevin Faulk and DL Brandon Deaderick have been activated to the 53-man roster from the reserve/physically unable to perform list. Faulk and Deaderick were placed on the list on September 3, 2011. In addition, the Patriots placed rookie CB Ras-I Dowling on injured reserve with a hip injury.
Faulk, 35, is the longest tenured Patriot on the roster, entering his 13th season. Last season, Faulk was limited to just two games due to an injury. He had eight rushing attempts for 45 yards and caught six passes for 62 yards.
Faulk, 5-8, 202 pounds, has filled various roles since joining the team in 1999 as a second-round pick (46th overall) out of LSU. He is the Patriots all-time leader in all-purpose yards (12,247) and kickoff return yards (4,098) and is the Patriots' all-time leading return specialist, totaling 5,030 combined return yards (4,098 kick return yards and 932 punt return yards).
Deaderick, 24, is in his second season with the Patriots. As a rookie last season, he played in 10 games with four starts and finished with 17 total tackles and 2.0 sacks. Deaderick, 6-4, 305 pounds, joined the Patriots as a seventh round (247th overall) draft pick out of Alabama in 2010.
Dowling, 23, played and started in the first two games of the season and registered two tackles before missing the next four games. Dowling, 6-1, 198 pounds, was drafted by New England in the second round (33rd overall) of the 2011 NFL Draft out of Virginia.
