FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — As the New England Patriots turn their attention to their Week 12 showdown with the Cincinnati Bengals, they have made a series of roster moves in hopes of improving the ball club for their stretch run toward the playoffs.
The Pats officially announced that they have signed rookie tight end C.J. Dippre to the 53-man roster from the practice squad. In order to accommodate Dippre’s arrival, they have released safety John Saunders Jr.
Dippre was originally signed by New England as a rookie free agent out of Alabama in May, shortly after the conclusion of the 2025 NFL Draft. The 6-foot-5, 256-pounder was released at the end of training camp and signed to the practice squad.
Dippre started his career at Maryland (2021-22) before transferring to Alabama (2023-24) for his final two seasons. He played in 52 career games with 37 starts and totaled 65 receptions for 782 yards and three touchdowns during his college career. The 23-year-old is expected to add depth at the tight end position behind team captain Hunter Henry, veteran Austin Hooper and hybrid fullback Jack Westover.
Saunders joined the Patriots in October, signing with the Pats’ 53-man roster from the Miami Dolphins practice squad. The 6-foot-2, 211-pounder originally signed with Miami as a rookie free agent out of Mississippi in May. The 24-year-old began the season on the practice squad.
Saunders began his college career at Miami (Ohio) before transferring to Mississippi following the 2022 season. New England heavily scouted Saunders during the 2025 draft cycle and hosted him for a pre-draft visit at Gillette Stadium, coveting his ability to play multiple roles. New England is expected to explore signing Saunders to the scout team, should he clear waivers.
In addition, the Patriots signed LB Otis Reese to the practice squad and placed LB Darius Harris on the practice squad injured reserve list.
Reese spent the last two seasons with the Tennessee Titans and part of the 2025 season on the Buffalo Bills practice squad. The 6-foot-2, 230-pounder originally entered the NFL as a rookie free agent with Tennessee out of Mississippi in 2023.
The 27-year-old was released by Tennessee at the end of training camp this past summer and was signed by Buffalo to the practice squad. Reese was released by Buffalo from the practice squad on Oct. 7, 2025. He has played in 20 NFL games during his two seasons with Tennessee and has 26 total tackles, one interception, one pass-defensed and 12 special teams tackles.
Lastly, Harris was signed by New England to the practice squad on Sept. 3 and was elevated for three games. The 6-foot-2, 245-pounder has spent time with the Kansas City Chiefs (2019-23) and Dallas Cowboys (2024) after originally entering the NFL as a rookie free agent with the Chiefs out of Middle Tennessee State in 2019.
It’s no secret A.J. Brown is frustrated with his role, despite the Philadelphia Eagles‘ stellar start to the season.
Yet, when asked about his conversation with Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie, Brown decided not to air his grievances Sunday night after their fifth straight win, 16-9, over the Detroit Lions at Lincoln Financial Field.
Brown had seven catches for 49 yards Sunday night and earned a key defensive pass-interference penalty in the fourth quarter that sealed the Eagles win.
Still, despite his season-high volume of targets (11), Brown was held to fewer than 50 yards for the sixth game of the season. His 50.8 receiving-yards-per-game average is by far the lowest of his seven-season NFL career — his previous worst was 65.8 in his rookie year with the Tennessee Titans.
The Eagles (8-2) will take on the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday at AT&T Stadium.
Brown credited the Philadelphia defense for carrying it for the second straight week. The Eagles have allowed just 16 points in their past two games since Brandon Graham and Jaelan Phillips entered the lineup.
But Brown is still frustrated with the offense’s inability to put up points. Since their Week 9 bye, the Eagles have scored just 26 points, put up only 307 passing yards and 566 total yards of offense.
“We still got to do a better job on offense and get our stuff going,” Brown said. “It’s a lot of room for improvement.
“It’s some things that we aren’t doing.”
Ultimately, the Eagles offense has made enough plays to win each of their past two games and are tied with the Los Angeles Rams for the best record in the NFC. Plus, Philadelphia beat LA 33-26 on Sept. 21, meaning it has the tiebreaker and holds the No. 1 seed with seven games left.
So Brown is “optimistic” about the Eagles’ outlook, even if he knows their offense needs to do better.
“There’s things that we can always look at and get better at,” Brown said. “There are some things we can be happy about, but we’re in the business of trying to get better. It’s not that we’re just moping around … but we’re going to try to go back to work and fix the things that we need to get better at.”
Brown’s comments about the offense’s improvements are a veiled shot at his lack of involvement in it. According to ESPN’s Sal Paolantonio, Lurie needed to intervene at practice Thursday to set Brown straight about his complaining on social media, specifically Instagram.
“During the 10-minute meeting, Brown promised Lurie that he would stop complaining on social media, according to the team official,” ESPN reported Sunday. “But Brown also told Lurie that he just wants to be a part of the offense and is frustrated, the official said.
“Lurie told Brown that he didn’t need to apologize, the pair concluded the meeting with a hug, and the wide receiver returned to practice, according to the team official.”
When asked about the meeting, Brown decided to keep the details private.
“I’m gonna keep that between me and him,” Brown said.