Bedard: Thomas signs, Harry to IR - How does the receiving corp look for Week 1?

The Patriots placed first-round pick N'Keal Harry on injured reserve today, which means he is eligible for one of two spots for players returning from injury. He has to sit for the first six weeks of the season, and can be activated after eight weeks.

To take his place, the Patriots re-signed Demaryius Thomas to a one-year deal, according to sources.

What does the Patriots' passing game look like for the opener against the Steelers? Let's break it down by position and then get into specifics.

X (boundary receiver)

Josh Gordon
Demaryius Thomas
IR: N'Keal Harry
PUP: Cam Meredith

Slot/F

Julian Edelman
Jakobi Meyers
Gunner Olszewski

Z

Phillip Dorsett
Thomas

There are two definites when it comes to the receiving corp: Gordon and Edelman are going to get a lot of snaps. Beyond that, I think a lot will depend on gameplan and opponent — and this involves the running backs, especially, and the tight ends.

One thing no one's really talking about — and I expect this to be a big topic of conversation this week — is the health of Edelman after he left the Giants game in obvious discomfort with his left thumb, which he broke in the offseason. No one is saying anything about it on the Patriots, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him as limited on the first injury report on Wednesday. Even if Edelman isn't listed, that doesn't mean he's a full go. Olszewski being on this roster indicates the Patriots are not 100 percent on Edelman's health and/or are looking to limit his wear-and-tear.

I would think Dorsett will get the bulk of No. 3 reps on the outside with Gordon and Edelman, if he's healthy. Tom Brady just isn't there with Meyers yet from what we saw in game No. 3.

Thomas, I still think is limited and I'm not even sure if he'll be active the first week. He was decent against the Giants' waiver squad, but he had trouble getting separation and still lacks the little bit of explosion he showed with the Texans. If he does play, I would expect it to be in a very specific personnel grouping, especially in the red zone.

I would expect the Patriots to use multiple running backs out of the backfield, especially in the opener against the Steelers. This is something they have worked on a lot during practice but have yet to show it in a game. This would be the type of gameplan wrinkle that could be a weapon in the Steelers and help them get through this game with a win — before it's on film for the rest of the league.

I could see the Patriots lining up a lot with:

WR Thomas, WR Edelman, TE/FB, RB James White and RB Rex Burkhead.

It also wouldn't be a surprise to see them line up with three receivers and two running backs.

Both formations would force the Steelers' 3-4 defense to spread out and allow Brady to pick the personnel matchups to exploit. The Patriots would want to get their backs on the Steelers' bigger linebackers as much as possible. The Steelers do have two more athletic linebackers in the mix — first-round pick Devin Bush and free agent Mark Barron — but the Patriots will try to exploit ILB Vince Williams and OLBs Bud Dupree and T.J. Watt in coverage.

As usual in this matchup, I think the Steelers will have a lot of issues adjusting on the fly against the Patriots with the new wrinkles.

Brian Hoyer signs with Colts

It's always funny to hear reports about Player X is expected to re-sign with the Patriots because once a player is a free agent, all bets are off. Thomas garnered some interest from the Broncos — which may have forced the Patriots to add him to the roster this week instead of next week (when his salary wouldn't be guaranteed).

Another case in point: Brian Hoyer, who received a reported three-year, $12-million contract with $9 million guaranteed. Even Bill Belichick's comments this week indicated Hoyer to return at some point —I'm guessing the team thought he might be on the street for a while — but obviously that's not the case.

The trickle-down effect from this is that now I would expect the Patriots to sign a quarterback to the practice squad because they need to get someone else up to speed in this offense should Brady or Jarrett Stidham sustain an injury. Maybe it's Danny Etling, but I sure hope they can do better than a QB they told to try WR. There's really no one from the pipeline, unless you want to sign Ryan Mallett to the 53-man roster. They're going to have to go back to the college evaluations to find a prospect worth developing. Possibly David Fales. Tom Savage knows the system from Houston.

Patriots form practice squad — for now

TE Stephon Anderson
LB Terez Hall
FB Jakob Johnson (doesn't count to 10-man limit)
DE Ufomba Kamalu
LB Calvin Munson
OT Dan Skipper
OT Tyree St. Louis
DE Nick Thurman

UPDATE:

OG Colby Gossett, DE Gerri Green, OG Najee Toran added on Monday.

St. Louis has been released, so there's another spot open. Still no QB.UCLA