As cuts loom, bubble players endure waiting game

And now, they wait.

Four preseason games and a month of evaluation is complete. The Patriots’ braintrust will get its chance to pull together a 53-man roster over the weekend, with final cuts due by 4 p.m. Saturday and the practice squad a day after that. For the guys who might be on the roster bubble, their work is done. They’ll find out if their performance over the last month was good enough to warrant a spot in the next few days.



For running back D.J. Foster, a second-year man out of Arizona State, this is old hat. He had to sweat through cutdown day last season, but ultimately made the roster as a rookie free agent. But because of some personnel shuffling, he knows he can’t afford to feel too comfortable about his situation, even after a good summer and a preseason finale that saw him catch four passes for 51 yards and tack on 11 yards rushing against the Giants.

“I bought it every day. I worked hard,” Foster said when asked if he felt he had a good summer. “I tried to show everything that I could show as a receiver, running back. Whatever the coaches called on me to do. I left it all out there. It was a blessing to be able to play here and spend this time in training camp.

“I just wait and pray and know that God will take care of it," added Foster, who led the team in rushing in the preseason with 92 yards. "I’ve enjoyed my time here, and whatever the future holds, it’s not up to me. But I’ve had a great time, and it was fun to be able to go out there with the guys.”

Wide receiver Devin Lucien has the same approach. A seventh-round pick out of Arizona State in 2016, he was released last summer before being added to the practice squad. He was asked after Thursday’s game if he did enough this summer to warrant a spot on the roster.

“That’s up to Bill [Belichick]. That’s a Bill question. I hope I did,” said Lucien, who had a team-high five catches for 96 yards and a touchdown on Thursday. “A lot went into this game. A lot went into this preparation. I was able to have a good game. Jacoby [Brissett] put the ball there, the line did a great job of blocking – a lot went into me having the kind of game I had, so hats off to all of those guys. I hope they make the team just as much as I do.

“I just hope [the coaches] see someone who improved throughout camp,” he added.

Wide receiver Austin Carr, an undrafted rookie out of Northwestern, ended up leading the team in the preseason in catches (14), receiving yards (153) and receiving touchdowns (two). Like Lucien, he’s trying to carve out a spot on a crowded wide receiver depth chart. He anticipates an “emotional” roller coaster this weekend.

“No matter what, there’s going to be highs and lows — it almost feels like draft day all over again where you don’t know where you’re going to end up,” he said. “Again, I’m praying and trusting God. I know that I left it all out there and I’m hoping for another shot.”

Many of those on the bubble have confessed to asking veterans for advice as to how to survive the process. The best words of wisdom Thursday night came from offensive lineman Ted Karras, who was asked after the game about the stress level for those players at this time of the year.

“That’s part of the job,” he shrugged. “This time of the year is hectic, but we’re paid to play and when we’re told to play, we play. And everything else is out of our hands, so that’s how you’ve got to approach it. If you start doing mental gymnastics in your head, you’re going to drive yourself crazy.”