Following a six-game absence, Sony Michel is back with the Patriots. NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport reports (via Twitter) that New England has activated the running back from injured reserve. The team will waive Hjalte Froholdt to make room on the roster. Jeff Howe of The Athletic tweets that the Patriots have also waived defensive end Derek Rivers.
Michel started each of New England’s first three games this season, but a quad injury has kept him out of the lineup for the past month-plus. It’s unlikely the 25-year-old will slide back to the top of the Patriots depth chart; former third-rounder Damien Harris has three 100-plus-yard performances since Michel went down, while both Rex Burkhead and James White continue to see work out of the backfield.
The Georgia product has been a bit trick-or-treat since being selected with the 31st-overall pick in the 2018 draft. He had a dynamic playoff run in 2018, rushing for 336 yards and six touchdowns in three games en route to a Super Bowl championship. However, Michel only averaged 3.7 yards per attempt in 2019, and he didn’t play more than 38-percent of his team’s offensive snaps through the first three weeks of the season.
Rivers was a third-round pick by the Patriots in 2017, and he’s already missed a pair of seasons due to injuries. In total, the 26-year-old has seen time in 14 games, compiling six tackles and 2.5 sacks. Froholdt, a fourth-round pick by the Patriots in 2019, appeared in eight games this season.