New England’s Devin Asiasi should get lots of playing time for the Patriots on Thursday against the Eagles. Steven Senne/Associated Press
PHILADELPHIA — Three weeks ago, the Patriots opened training camp with the best tight end duo in the NFL.
Now, they can’t get two tight ends on the field.
With veteran backups Matt LaCosse and Troy Fumagalli sidelined for Tuesday’s joint practice with the Eagles – and with Fumagalli released later in the day to get the roster down to 85 – the Patriots were down to a single healthy tight end: Devin Asiasi. The 2020 third-round pick has crawled his way back from a COVID-19 diagnosis last month, seeing few targets in team drills, including a few balls he’s let slip through his hands.
On Tuesday, he caught one pass in 7-on-7s and scored a touchdown during an ensuing goal-line period. Assuming none of his injured teammates return for Thursday’s preseason game in Philadelphia, Asiasi will have an opportunity for much more action.
“(I want) improvement from last week,” Asiasi said. “I had a couple snaps last week (against Washington), got in there, got my feet wet a little bit. But coach always makes the point that we want to dive head in first, so I’m going out there to play ball.”
With the Patriots waiving Fumagalli with an injury designation, the roster was down to 85 players and the tight end room consisted of LaCosse, Asiasi and projected starters Hunter Henry and Jonnu Smith. Henry hasn’t practiced in more than a week because of a shoulder injury, though he was healthy enough to wear pads and warm up for both joint sessions in Philly. Smith tweaked his left ankle on Sunday and did not dress for either practice.
That left LaCosse, who was knocked out of Monday’s practice, and Asiasi to split first-team snaps.
“We’ve got a couple guys down, but I’ve just got to step up and play my role,” Asiasi said. “Knowing what I’ve got to do out there, knowing how to execute and all that. It’s just stepping up and playing ball at the end of the day.”
Asiasi said his conditioning has improved since he recovered from his bout with COVID-19, which forced him to quarantine for 10 days. He’s needed more rest than usual and has been hydrating constantly.
“It kind of puts a toll on your body. And since I wasn’t putting any work in, any conditioning, because I couldn’t go anywhere, that played a big part in it,” Asiasi said. “Then coming out here – obviously not having a week to kind of get into everything like everyone else had – I just had to string myself along and just catch up as I could.”
And now he’s ready, just as opportunity comes knocking.
RASHOD BERRY, an outside linebacker released by the Patriots on Sunday, was signed Wednesday by Detroit.
Berry played both offense and defense during his days at Ohio State, catching 17 passes for 198 yards and four touchdowns as a tight end and recording seven tackles as a defensive end. He signed with New England as an undrafted free agent last year and moved to defense full time. He made one tackle in three games for the Patriots before getting released this week.
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