FOXBOROUGH — Dion Lewis has been spotted in the Patriots’ locker room for brief stretches pretty consistently over the last two-plus weeks, leading to speculation that he would soon join his teammates on the practice field.
That speculation became reality Thursday afternoon when the running back strapped on the pads for the team’s first full-padded workout of the week. The Patriots now have 21 days to activate Lewis from the physically unable to perform list. If the team chooses not to, the 5-foot-8-inch, 195-pounder would be placed on the PUP/reserve list, ending his season.
Lewis had not been seen on the practice field since June 13, during the final organized team activity workout open to the media.
He missed all of camp and started the season on the PUP list after undergoing a second knee surgery following his original procedure to repair the ACL he tore in Week 9 of last season against the Redskins.
Lewis was the offensive star of the 2015 training camp and won the starting running back’s job. He was outstanding in his seven games last season, rushing for 234 yards and two touchdowns, and added 36 receptions for 388 yards and two more scores.
The Patriots do have an open roster spot, but it’s unlikely Lewis would be activated for Sunday’s game against Buffalo. New England has a bye next week, followed by games with Seattle and at San Francisco.
There doesn’t appear to be any need to rush Lewis back, as the Patriots have gotten solid production from running backs LeGarrette Blount (143 rushes, 566 yards, 8 TDs) and James White (27 receptions, 244 yards, 3 TDs).
They also have Brandon Bolden and D.J. Foster on the active roster and Tyler Gaffney and Bishop Sankey on the practice squad.
Guard Tre’ Jackson, also on the PUP list, has not begun practicing.
Lewis came back to a full house, as the Patriots had perfect attendance at practice.
Rookie defensive tackle Vincent Valentine (back) was not spotted during the portion of practice open to reporters, but was listed as a limited participant on the injury report. Martellus Bennett (ankle), Bolden (knee), Jamie Collins (hip), Julian Edelman (foot), Woodrow Hamilton (shoulder), Malcolm Mitchell (hamstring), and Elandon Roberts (ankle) were also limited.
Do-over for Van Noy
Linebacker Kyle Van Noy is the latest Patriots reboot project, another high draft pick bought on sale out of a situation that hadn’t gone as planned.
Fresh from Detroit, Van Noy said the trade came as a complete surprise Thursday as he got ready for his second practice as a Patriot. New England sent a sixth-round pick to Detroit in exchange for Van Noy and a seventh-round pick.
“I mean, I was shocked,’’ Van Noy said. “You go from starting there to traded so I was shocked. I respect everybody with the Detroit Lions, you know, they’ll all be my guys there and just grateful to the opportunity to come here and get it going.’’
The Lions traded up to draft the 6-3, 243-pound Van Noy in the second round of the 2014 draft. He missed most of his first two years with injuries but had started all seven games for Detroit this season. Van Noy lost 15 pounds over the offseason at the request of his coaches.
Regarded as a good pass rusher coming out of Brigham Young, Van Noy was mostly used as a 4-3 strongside linebacker with the Lions, rarely rushing the passer. Patriots coach Bill Belichick said “we’ll see’’ when asked about Van Noy’s role on Wednesday, but Van Noy seemed to be happy with the fit.
“They didn’t know where to put me [in Detroit] and here, they want me here and I’m happy to be wanted,’’ Van Noy said.
The Patriots have apparently long had a liking for Van Noy, who said he had “a lot’’ of contact with the Patriots before the draft.
Asked if that contact included a visit to Foxborough, Van Noy turned to a team official and asked, “Am I allowed to say that?’’
“I won’t go further because I’m here now and that’s all that matters,’’ he said, making sure not to ruffle any feathers with his new team.
On Wednesday, Belichick said that his relationship with Bob Quinn, the former Patriots director of pro scouting who is now the Lions’ general manager, can help facilitate trades.
“I mean it could, yeah. I mean, you know, there are a lot of teams that don’t [want to trade],’’ Belichick said. “They seem kind of reluctant to trade this time of year especially, but it’s one of those things that came up fairly quickly and just worked out. It wasn’t something we had talked about or anything like that previously.’’
Another Brady fanSteelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger asked Tom Brady for his jersey before last Sunday’s game between the two teams. Roethlisberger is recovering from knee surgery and did not play in the game, but asked Brady for the memento when the two greeted each other on the field. A clip of Showtime’s ‘‘Inside the NFL’’ shows a bashful Roethlisberger telling Brady he’s “never done this before,’’ but that he would “love to get a jersey at some point.’’ Brady obliges, telling Roethlisberger he’ll have it after the game.
