Can John Lynch's brief Patriots career provide some insight into what’s up with David Harris?

FOXBOROUGH — The fact that David Harris got so much playing time — he was on the field with second- and third-teamers in the second half of Friday’s preseason win over the Lions — sparked a conversation among some football fans. Was it a bad sign? Could he be on the bubble when it comes to cuts? Or was it simply a case of seeing how Harris did alongside different linebackers, or how he looked after being on the field for an extended stretch?


While keeping in mind that everyone’s situation is different, it made us think back to the summer of 2008 when veteran safety John Lynch joined the Patriots. The future Hall of Famer, who said he nearly signed with New England in 2004, was nearing the end of his career when he decided to sign with the Patriots.

But it wasn’t what he thought it was: like Harris, he was playing alongside youngsters late in the third game of the summer. In a radio interview earlier this spring, Lynch told me he realized he “had turned that faucet off. I had always been a passionate player, and that wasn’t there.”

And so, he had a long talk with Bill Belichick.

“Bill actually said, ‘You know what? Go home. See if you can get excited. I think you’re just homesick.’ So I went home to Denver, visited with my family, went back to camp,” Lynch, who was 37 at the time, remembered. “When I got back to camp, Bill and I had a good discussion, and I knew I was going to be done with football at that point. I played one more game.”

In the preseason finale -- usually a night off for veterans -- he was on the field late in the second half. That was it for his playing career. Lynch wasn’t done in Foxborough, however.

“I went into the Pro Shop and I bought a bunch of (Lynch) jerseys,” he recalled with a laugh. “Mr. Kraft had just ordered them. I said to the store manager ‘You ought to put those things on sale,’ and he looked at me like I was crazy. ‘What are you talking about? Irish-Catholic in Boston? These things are going to be huge. And I said ‘You’ll see.’ I knew I was going home. I had about 10, just for keepsakes.”

Ultimately, Lynch was released on Sept. 1, six days before the regular-season opener. But he's one of a handful of guys who have arrived in Foxborough late in their careers hoping to find football nirvana with the Patriots, and for whatever reason, just didn't click. It's a group that included Reggie Wayne, who was released on Sept. 5, five days before the regular-season opener.

Again, no one is saying that the 33-year-old Harris is set to follow in Lynch or Wayne’s footsteps. And Harris has expressed his excitement and enthusiasm for playing in New England on several occasions this summer. But if you spot Harris in the Pro Shop looking for some No. 45 jerseys over the next week or so, it might be a sign.