Beau Allen Won't Play This Season For Patriots, Bill Belichick Reveals
BOSTON (CBS) -- The Patriots had a very quiet month of March in terms of free-agent acquisitions. Their biggest signing during that period -- defensive tackle Beau Allen -- won't end up playing a single snap for the team in 2020.
Head coach Bill Belichick revealed that news on Monday, one day after his team fell to 2-5 with a loss in Buffalo against the Bills.
"No, Beau won't play this year," Belichick said in a video conference with reporters.
Allen missed training camp with an undisclosed injury, starting the season on injured reserve. With the NFL's IR rules changing for the 2020 season due to COVID-19, teams are able to activate an unlimited number of players from IR. So when Allen debuted on the practice field on Oct. 21, it appeared as though the veteran D tackle was making strides toward a return.
Now two weeks later, Belichick announced that Allen won't be a part of the Patriots' 2020 season.
"Yeah, he just won't be ready," Belichick said.
The Boston Globe's Jim McBride followed up Belichick's announcement by reporting that Allen suffered a leg injury during practice last week.
Allen, 28, was a seventh-round pick by the Eagles in 2013. He was expected to fill the void left by Danny Shelton's free agent departure. He spent four seasons in Philly before playing the last two years in Tampa. The 6-foot-3, 327-pound Allen had just 10 total tackles (and a half-sack) last season, after averaging 24 tackles per year over the previous four seasons.
He had been healthy prior to this year, averaging 15 games played per season in his six years in the NFL.
