Martellus Bennett placed on IR by Patriots, bringing injury saga full circle

The Patriots have placed tight end Martellus Bennett on IR, the team announced Monday.

Bennett played two games for the Patriots, recording six catches for 53 yards in limited snaps with the team. Bennett came over from the Green Bay Packers after being cut with a “failure to disclose an injury” designation.

In 2016, Bennett played for the Patriots and was a contributor in their Super Bowl run.

What does this mean for the Patriots? Tom Brady’s losing a valuable weapon, but the Patriots were also fine without him. Bennett saw limited action in his two games with the Patriots, both of which were wins.

Tom Brady is still playing like himself. He leads the NFL with 3,374 passing yards — 336 more than Kirk Cousins, who is second. As long as Brady is on, it doesn’t really matter who the weapons around him are.

This is kinda weird, isn’t it? Yes. Bennett’s exit from Green Bay was odd. He was cut after he and the Packers’ staff disagreed on the severity of his shoulder injury. He was released with a “failure to disclose an injury” designation after Week 9. It was a surprising end to his Green Bay tenure, even though his impact there was limited as well — he averaged three receptions and 33 yards per game in the green and yellow.

The Patriots later claimed him, even after he requested that teams not do it. So Bennett went from his injury disagreement with the Packers, to playing for the Patriots in Week 10, where he had three receptions for 38 yards.

Perhaps landing on the IR wasn’t so unexpected for Bennett. He said, “It was pretty cool,” he said of playing with the Patriots again. “Last week, I thought I was going to be on IR, so it’s just been a surreal week for me.”

Here we are, two weeks later, and Bennett is now on IR. Earlier in the season, he suggested on Instagram that this could be his last season. After his IR designation, it’s fair to question whether this could be it for him.