FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The New England Patriots announced today that they have signed RB J.J. Taylor to the 53-man roster from the practice squad and placed OL Marcus Cannon on injured reserve.
In addition, the Patriots elevated WR Lynn Bowden Jr. and OL Kody Russey to the active roster.
Taylor, 24, was originally signed by New England as a rookie free agent out of Arizona in 2020. The 5-foot-6, 185-pounder, has played in 11 games over the last two seasons with 42 rushing attempts for 147 yards and two touchdowns and five receptions for 12 yards. He has also returned five kicks for 112 yards and one punt for 11 yards. Taylor was released by New England the end of training camp this past summer and signed to the practice squad.
Cannon, 34, was signed by New England to the practice squad on Sept. 13 and then signed to the 53-man roster on Oct. 5. He has played in five games with four starts in 2022.
Bowden Jr., 25, was originally drafted by the Las Vegas Raiders in the third round of the 2020 NFL Draft (80th overall) out of Kentucky. The 6-foot-1, 203-pounder was traded from Las Vegas to the Miami Dolphins on September 5, 2020. He played in 10 games with four starts and caught 28 passes for 211 yards and had nine rushing attempts for 32 yards as a rookie in 2020. Bowden Jr. spent the entire 2021 season on injured reserve. He was released by Miami on August 30, 2022 and signed by New England to the practice squad on Sept. 1.
Russey, 24, was signed by New England as a rookie free agent out of Houston on May 9, 2022. The 6-foot-2, 300-pounder was released on Aug. 30 and signed to the practice squad on Aug. 31. He was elevated to the active roster and dressed but did not play last week at the New York Jets. Russey started his college career at Louisiana Tech, where he started 46 games at center. He transferred to Houston in 2021 and started 14 games at center.
