UPDATE, 4:50 P.M.: Running back Tyler Gaffney cleared waivers and was placed on season-ending injured reserve.
The Patriots waived running back Tyler Gaffney with an injury designation on Wednesday. If the second-year back clears waivers, he will land on the team's injured reserve list.
Gaffney opened training camp as a full participant after spending last season on injured reserve, but he last practiced on Aug. 1. During that particular session, Gaffney sustained a pair of big hits, including one from defensive lineman Sealver Siliga, but he remained on the field for the entirety of the practice.
It's been a difficult calendar year for Gaffney, who suffered a season-ending meniscus tear during Panthers training camp last year, was waived, and then claimed by the Patriots. The sixth-round draft choice out of Stanford sat out his rookie season following surgery but was a constant presence in the Patriots facility as he went through his rehabilitation process.
Back in March, Patriots coach Bill Belichick explained that he and the rest of the Patriots coaching staff were looking forward to seeing Gaffney on the field.
"We’ll see how it goes," Belichick said. "I look forward to it. We kept him all year -- active, then we put him on IR once we got to the 75 cut or whatever it was. We’re excited to work with Tyler.”
Gaffney spent just one season as Stanford's primary back, but he made the most of his opportunities, rushing 330 times for 1709 yards and 21 touchdowns. He also had 15 catches for 86 yards and another score.
New England Patriots
After taking the 2012 season to play minor-league baseball -- an outfielder for the Cardinal, he was drafted in the 24th round by the Pirates -- Gaffney turned himself into a legitimate NFL prospect with his size (6-foot-1, 220-pounds), his athleticism and his hard-nosed running style.
He wasn't necessarily a go-to receiver in the college ranks, but his ability to catch the ball out of the backfield gave him added versatility, and it made him a dark-horse candidate to potentially help fill the void left by Shane Vereen's departure from New England via free agency this offseason.
"He played baseball, he’s a good athlete, he’s got good hands," Belichick said. "I don’t think catching’s an issue. He ran for a lot of yards, really had one year of production out there because of baseball so we’ll see."
Gaffney's injury is just one of several experienced by the Patriots running back group during training camp: LeGarrette Blount sustained a knee injury during last Friday's practice and was a limited participant on Tuesday; Travaris Cadet suffered what appeared to be a leg injury over the weekend and has not been seen on the field since; Dion Lewis was hurt early in camp and after missing several days of practice returned as a limited participant earlier this week.
With the number of backs either limited or out, the majority of the snaps in recent practices have fallen to Jonas Gray, Brandon Bolden, James White and newly-acquired undrafted free agent Tony Creecy.