Injuries put Foster’s ‘wide’ range to test

FOXBORO — When the Patriots started practice on Wednesday, rookie running back D.J. Foster was strictly with the wide receivers.

On each drill, Foster ran a short route, pulled in a catch and sprint briefly down the practice field before returning to the line of players that included Julian Edelman, Chris Hogan and Malcolm Mitchell. After three series of drills, he returned to the running backs for a brief moment before he was called back to the receivers.

W i t h D a n n y A m e n d o l a reportedly out until the playoffs with an ankle injury, the Patriots might have to get creative at the receiver position to add depth behind Edelman, Hogan and Mitchell. The team signed free agent wide reciever Griff Whalen to a one-year deal on Thursday as insurance for Amendola, but as it turns out, they might not have to look far.

In four years at Arizona State, Foster caught 222 passes. Learning to play one position in the NFL isn’t easy. The same can be said for two, but Foster’s up for the challenge.

“It’s definitely tough. That’s why my mindset has been learning the offense as a whole,” Foster said. “I kind of had that mindset coming into this organization, through training camp, through everything. Just learn as much as I can. So no matter what position they need me at, I can go out there and help and be productive.”

Foster has played in three games this season. He’s rushed for 24 yards on seven carries and caught one pass for two yards. He’s also returned a kick for 30 yards. The rookie shined this preseason, catching nine passes for 110 yards against the New York Giants.

After three years at running back, in college, Foster transitioned to receiver full-time last season. That experience is serving him well now.

“Even when I was at running back, I played a lot of receiver. I definitely feel comfortable at both positions. So just learn as much as I can and keep soaking it up and keep observing every day. Whatever happens, wherever they need me, I’ll be ready.”

He’s beat up

Martellus Bennett is battered and bruised. That’s led to a decline in the tight end’s productivity, but not his availability.

Bennett has been hobbled by an ankle injury since mid-October and, if that wasn’t enough, he hurt his shoulder nearly three weeks ago. Yet, he hasn’t missed a game and has played a hefty 77.4 percent (645 of 833) of the offensive snaps this season.

“The thing about this sport is it’s always something,” Bennett said Thursday. “You never get through a season without having a nick or tear. But there’s a lot of guys playing with different things.”

And some that aren’t.

“Some guys play through different injuries,” Bennett said. “And the same injuries, you see some guys around the league that go on IR and different things like that. It just depends on the person.”

Bennett, a ninth-year pro who has missed nine games in his career, would likely benefit from sitting out a game. But he said he’s “never thought about that.”

And with Rob Gronkowski on season-ending injured reserve and inexperienced Matt Lengel the only other tight end on the roster, Bennett isn’t likely to get a break until the Patriots are locked into a playoff spot.

‘Back to the basics’

It’s been a season of streaks for the Baltimore Ravens.

They opened the year with three wins, then lost four straight and have since rebounded to take four of the past five. That all adds up to a 7-5 record and a share of first place in the AFC North heading into Monday night’s matchup with the Patriots at Gillette Stadium.

“Well, we had a tough stretch obviously,” Ravens safety Eric Weddle said Thursday in a conference call. “Teams go through that throughout the year.”

An uptick in injuries led to their down play. A number of offensive linemen and defensive backs missed time along with a trio of impact players in linebackers C.J. Mosley (two games) and Terrell Suggs (one) and defensive lineman Elvis Dumervil (eight).

“We were in games, we just weren’t playing well enough in the third and fourth quarter to overcome our deficiencies at that time,” Weddle said, the losses coming by 1, 6, 4 and 8 points.

“We finally went back to the basics, the fundamentals and playing our style of football. The defense has continued to get better and kept us in games. And now our offense is starting to come together at the right time.”

Injury update

The Patriots got some good news on the injury front on Thursday as the team’s injury report did not include Tom Brady or Edelman. Both had been limited for weeks.

The Patriots also got Bennett (ankle/shoulder) and Matthew Slater (foot) back at practice on Thursday, but they were still missing Jordan Richards (knee) and Amendola (ankle). Both Bennett and Slater missed Wednesday’s session and were limited in the Thursday report. Cornerback Eric Rowe was limited on Thursday, but seems to be progressing with his hamstring injury.

Linebacker Elandon Roberts (hamstring) was also limited. The Patriots also removed defensive linemen Trey Flowers (shin) and Woodrow Hamilton (illness) from the injury report.