{"id":314153,"date":"2025-11-26T04:55:16","date_gmt":"2025-11-26T04:55:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/314153\/"},"modified":"2025-11-26T04:55:16","modified_gmt":"2025-11-26T04:55:16","slug":"patriots-sign-tackle-off-browns-practice-squad-amid-series-of-moves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/314153\/","title":{"rendered":"Patriots sign tackle off Browns\u2019 practice squad amid series of moves"},"content":{"rendered":"

With rookie starters Will Campbell and Jared Wilson sidelined by knee<\/a> and ankle<\/a> injuries, a reshuffle is underway up front.<\/p>\n

The New England Patriots signed offensive tackle Thayer Munford Jr. to the 53-man roster off the practice squad of the Cleveland Browns on Tuesday. The organization placed cornerback Alex Austin on injured reserve in a corresponding move and also made changes to the practice squad.<\/p>\n

Munford, 25, had joined<\/a> New England\u2019s practice squad following the NFL\u2019s cutdown deadline in August. He departed for a spot on Cleveland\u2019s active roster<\/a> at the end of September, however, and was retained there after clearing waivers three weeks later. The 6-foot-6, 328-pound Ohio State product was selected by the Las Vegas Raiders in the seventh round of the 2022 draft class at No. 238 overall. His stay in the AFC West spanned 46 games, including 18 starts, as well as 1,088 offensive snaps dating back to offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels\u2019 time as head coach.<\/p>\n

Austin, 24, entered the league with the Buffalo Bills in the seventh round of the 2023 class at No. 252 overall. After being claimed off waivers by the Houston Texans after his rookie preseason, the former Oregon State cornerback made his way to the 53-man roster at Gillette Stadium. He has appeared in 26 games dating back to then, starting six in the secondary. The 6-foot-1, 191-pound Austin\u2019s run with the Patriots includes 31 tackles and one interception. Now set to miss a minimum of four games while on injured reserve, he stands with 589 snaps on defense and 220 snaps on special teams during his tenure.<\/p>\n

Also on Tuesday, the Patriots brought back guard Bill Murray as part of the practice squad and released running back Jonathan Ward to make room.<\/p>\n

Murray, 28, made his way to Foxborough as an undrafted defensive tackle out of William & Mary in 2020. He spent his initial three seasons on the practice squad and converted to the interior offensive line in 2022. A pair of standard elevations followed before moving on<\/a> to the practice squad of the Chicago Bears at its formation in 2023. The 6-foot-4, 321-pound Murray went on to appear in three games last season, logging 43 snaps between offense and special teams. He became a free agent in September after reverting to injured reserve and reaching an injury settlement.<\/p>\n

Ward, 28, agreed to join<\/a> New England\u2019s practice squad following a workout in October. He re-signed<\/a> midway through November. The 5-foot-11, 202-pound running back made previous stops with the Arizona Cardinals, New York Jets, Tennessee Titans, Pittsburgh Steelers and New York Giants. A veteran of 46 games, Ward entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent out of Central Michigan in 2020. His run includes 91 yards across 22 carries, 52 yards across six catches and one touchdown.<\/p>\n

The 53-man roster and 17-man practice squad remain at capacity<\/a> for head coach Mike Vrabel & Co.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With rookie starters Will Campbell and Jared Wilson sidelined by knee and ankle injuries, a reshuffle is underway…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":314154,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[161703,74524,23433,349,99],"class_list":["post-314153","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-new-england-patriots-injuries","tag-new-england-patriots-roster","tag-new-england-patriots-news","tag-nfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/314153","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=314153"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/314153\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/314154"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=314153"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=314153"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=314153"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}