Julian Edelman

Patriots WR Brandon LaFell 'probably will' start practicing this week

Published Oct. 20, 2015 1:56 p.m. ET

foxsports

While the New England Patriots are 5-0 and look like world-beaters, they've done it largely with just two wide receivers. Julian Edelman and Danny Amendola are the top two wide receivers on the roster, and while Edelman has caught 40 passes, Amendola has just 17 receptions.

Fortunately, the Patriots could get another wideout back relatively soon. Brandon LaFell began the season on the PUP list, but he's finally eligible to return to practice and game action this week. When Bill Belichick was asked if LaFell will be on the practice field this week, he said he "probably will."

"We'll talk about that a little bit later on today when we get with the trainers and see how the workouts went today and so forth," Belichick said on his conference call Tuesday, via MassLive. "But yeah, it's definitely something that we'll be talking about now with players that are in that category."

LaFell had 74 catches for 953 yards and seven touchdowns for the Patriots last season and could provide a huge boost to the wide receiver corps upon his return -- particularly as a deep threat. He's averaged 13.9 yards per reception over the course of his career, compared to Amendola and Edelman's 11.4 this season.

The Patriots don't really have a deep threat aside from Rob Gronkowski, so LaFell's presence could open up the field even more for underneath routes.

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