FOXBOROUGH – The Patriots are adding more experience to their running back room and special teams unit.
On Friday, the team signed veteran Craig Reynolds, who comes to New England with 60 career games played, to the practice squad. The 29-year-old spent the last five seasons in Detroit. He played in every game for the Lions in 2023 and 2024. This season, he played in seven games before being released on Wednesday. Two days later, the Patriots brought him aboard.
This season, the Patriots have been hurting at the running back position. They lost Antonio Gibson to a season-ending knee injury. Rhamondre Stevenson missed three games due to a toe injury and returned last week in a limited fashion. The injuries forced the team to elevate veteran D’Ernest Johnson to the game-day roster a maximum of three times.
With Johnson out of elevations, the Patriots add Reynolds, who could fill multiple roles.
Reynolds entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent in 2019, playing in three games with Washington. He appeared in two games the next season in Jacksonville. The running back found his footing in Detroit. In five seasons, he ran for 654 yards on the ground. In the pass game, Reynolds caught 24 passes for 255 yards.
Reynolds ran for a career-high 112 yards in 2021. The next season, he finished with a career-high 68 receiving yards against the Patriots.
In 2023 and 2024, Reynolds was used as a reserve running back and core special teamer, playing in every game for the Lions. This season, in seven games, he played four offensive snaps compared to 105 snaps on special teams.
Reynolds was tied for third on the Lions with six special teams tackles. That’s an area where the Patriots could use him after the team placed cornerback Alex Austin on the injured reserve this week. Austin had four special teams tackles for the Patriots this season.
To make room on the roster for Reynolds, the Patriots released running back Rushawn Baker from the practice squad.
