On Saturday afternoon the New England Patriots promoted OL Thomas Welch from the practice squad to the 53-man roster for Sunday’s game against the Oakland Raiders.
Welch was originally a 7th round pick of New England in 2010 out of Vanderbilt. He was released by the Pats in the final cutdown last season and went to Minnesota as a practice squad player. He was elevated to the 53-man roster in December but did not play in any of the remaining games. He was released by Minnesota at the end of training camp this season.
He was promoted prior to Week 1 against Miami when T Sebastian Vollmer had to miss the game. After the game he was released again and then later re-signed to the practice squad where he was prior to this weekend’s promotion.
In order to make room for Welch; the Patriots released S Ross Ventrone. Ventrone, a Villanova grad and Pittsburgh PA native, was promoted from the practice squad last week prior to the Buffalo game as insurance in the secondary.
He spent training camp with the team and was released and then re-signed to the practice squad where he was until last weekend.
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