Patriots rookie Caedan Wallace ready to put behind-the-scenes growth into practice

With the exception of first-round pick Drake Maye, the New England Patriots’ rookie class has largely underwhelmed so far this season. That includes offensive tackle Caedan Wallace, who joined the team as in the third round of the NFL Draft.

After originally competing for the starting right tackle spot in training camp, Wallace opened the regular season in a backup capacity. Over the first month of the season, he started one game at left tackle — a rough outing for the youngster in Week 3 — and was on the field for 70 offensive snaps.

The 70th of those saw him suffer an ankle injury on a short-yardage play. Wallace was ruled out of the contest in San Francisco quickly, and ultimately had to be sent shortly thereafter.

Two months later, he remains on IR. However, Wallace recently returned to practice and is trying to make his way back onto the roster before the end of the season.

“Had a long recovery process,” he told reporters earlier this week. “I’m glad to be back on the field, back out with my guys. I’m enjoying practice.”

Returning to practice at the very least puts him on a path to make a comeback down the stretch; the latest the Patriots can activate him is before the season finale against Buffalo. It also allows Wallace to put his behind-the-scenes work into practice.

“I definitely had more time to dive into film, and kind of pick myself apart more and see things that I’m going to work on more getting back in the field,” he explained. “I’m hoping that what I learned will slow the game down. That’s what everyone says happens as you learn the game more. I know it’s a work in progress. I’m just kind of excited to get back out there and see what I learned.”

Wallace returning an improved player would be good news for the Patriots and an offensive line that has been a problem throughout the year, especially at right tackle. Demontrey Jacobs, thrust into the starting role in Week 4, has struggled in extended action; he twice seemed to have lost his job but was able to keep hold of it both times.

However, Jacobs has not proven himself a starter-level player. Wallace has neither, but the youngster at least offers superior if untapped potential.

“Hopefully, we can find a spot for him at some point at the end of the season as it comes down,” offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt said on Thursday. “We need to see what these young guys can do. And that’s been our theme throughout the course of the year, getting our young guys more experience and see where we are with them.”

Wallace is one of those guys, and his emergence would go a long way toward solving a major problem on the Patriots roster today. How soon he will be able to showcase his growth, however, is up in the air.

“Once he’s ready to go, he’ll go out there and hopefully help our football team,” said head coach Jerod Mayo. “It could be as soon as this weekend.”

Wallace has been a limited participant in practice so far this week, and his status for Sunday’s game against the Arizona Cardinals is TBD. He is trending up, though, which is good news for a team looking for all the help it can get.