FOXBORO - The New England Patriots made a quick change to their backfield Thursday, placing running back Terrell Jennings on injured reserve with an undisclosed injury before their preseason opener against the Indianapolis Colts. To fill the spot, the team signed running back JaMycal Hasty.
Jennings had entered camp as the obvious front-runner for the Patriots’ third running back job behind Rhamondre Stevenson and TreVeyon Henderson. His path to the roster took an immediate hit after he began training camp on the non-football injury list, and now the 25-year-old is set to miss the 2026 season unless he is released through an injury settlement.
“It was just something small,” Jennings said on Monday when asked about the injury which held him out of the beginning of camp.
His move off the board leaves New England with a running back competition that has been reshaped twice in a day. Before Thursday’s transaction, the Patriots waived-injured undrafted free agent Myles Montgomery and brought in Hassan Haskins.
With Jennings gone, the battle for the remaining spot has opened up among four players: Haskins, Hasty, sophomore Lan Larison and rookie Jam Miller.
Haskins comes in with a familiar connection to head coach Mike Vrabel. The 2022 fourth-round pick spent his first two seasons under Vrabel with the Tennessee Titans, then played the last two years with the Los Angeles Chargers, appearing in 29 games mostly as a specialist.
Hasty is another veteran with ties to Vrabel, and his return gives him a third run with the Patriots. He first joined the team after being claimed off waivers in the middle of the 2023 season during Bill Belichick’s tenure, played in 15 games in 2024 under Jerod Mayo, and then was signed again during Vrabel’s first season in the middle of training camp before being released at cutdowns.
Larison had been working as the Patriots’ third running back early in camp while Jennings was sidelined on the NFI list. Now that Jennings is out, Larison moves into the lead role for the job. He was one of the early camp standouts last year before a season-ending injury cut things short.
Miller, a seventh-round rookie out of Alabama, has shown flashes during training camp. He’s behind a group of backs with more familiarity in the building, but if he can put together strong preseason outings, the 22-year-old has a legitimate chance to stick on the 53-man roster.
Jennings’ injury thins the Patriots’ depth, but the competition still features a mix of experienced hands and younger options as New England sorts out who will emerge as its third running back.
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