Patriots Sign Former Colts 7th Round Pick Trevor Bates to Practice Squad
According to ESPN’s Mike Reiss, former Indianapolis Colts outside linebacker Trevor Bates has signed with the New England Patriots practice squad on Monday:
Originally a 7th round pick of this year’s draft by the Colts, the 6’2″, 247 pound outside linebacker spent the beginning of the season on Indianapolis’ practice squad until he was promoted to their active roster in Week 5.
However, Bates was waived on October 13th from the Colts 53-man active roster and wasn’t subsequently re-signed to the team’s practice squad, which still seems like a somewhat peculiar development.
The former Black Bears standout appeared in 46 career games at Maine, recording 207 tackles (106 solo), 19.0 sacks, 10 passes defensed, five forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries (one for a touchdown) and three interceptions (one also for a touchdown).
Bates appeared in all 4 (1 start) of the Colts preseason games, finishing with 6 tackles.
The rookie outside linebacker was viewed as a developmental pass rusher for the Colts, but also added position flexibility at inside linebacker with his sure-tackling ability.