The Patriots aren't done shopping at defensive back. After signing D'Shawn Jamison to the practice squad, the team brought in Jeremiah McClendon for a workout Wednesday—a 6-foot, 185-pound corner out of Southern Illinois who's bounced between the Saints and Browns this season as an undrafted free agent. It's a small move, barely a blip on most radars. But it tells you something about how Mike Vrabel and Eliot Wolf are operating: they're leaving no stone unturned in the secondary.
McClendon represents exactly what NFL teams do at this stage of the season—scavenger hunting. An undrafted guy with multiple auditions already under his belt is hungry, knows what to expect at this level, and costs nothing to evaluate. The Patriots clearly see something worth a closer look, even if it's just depth insurance or special teams contribution. That's not an indictment of the current roster. That's just competent roster management.
The pattern matters more than the individual name. When you're bringing in two defensive backs for looks in the same day, you're either addressing an injury situation, testing the market, or both. With a deep roster already in place at the position—Kevin Byard, Christian Gonzalez, Kindle Vildor, and others—adding McClendon to a potential practice squad spot makes sense as organizational belt-tightening. Cheap depth moves don't win games. But they've saved plenty of seasons when injuries strike.
This is the NFL in October. Teams that win make these kinds of calls without fanfare. Vrabel's Patriots clearly understand that the secondary is where you can least afford surprises—injuries pile up fast, and replacement-level corners get torched week after week on national television. McClendon might amount to nothing. Or he might be available when you actually need him. That's the whole point of the tryout system.