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Quarterback, Former Baseball Player Among 5 Players Who Worked Out For Patriots On Thursday

BOSTON (CBS) -- In an effort to keep the rolodex fresh for the 2021 season, the Patriots worked out five players on Thursday. That group included a quarterback and a former baseball player looking to switch sports.

The Patriots welcomed tight end/former Phillies outfielder Dylan Cozens, quarterback Jordan Ta'amu, defensive back Dominque Martin, and linebackers John Lako and Chris Orr to Foxboro for free agent workouts on Thursday, according to ESPN Boston's Mike Reiss.

Cozens, 27, is the most intriguing name of the bunch, as he made the switch from baseball to football this summer. The former outfielder was a second-round pick by the Phillies in 2012, and spent his entire baseball career in the Philadelphia organization, mostly as a minor leaguer. Cozens played in 27 games in the Major Leagues over the 2018 and 2019 seasons.

Dylan Cozens
Dylan Cozens of the Philadelphia Phillies in action during the 2018 season. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images)

A defensive end in high school, Cozens was committed to playing football at the University of Arizona. But he took his talents to the diamond after he was drafted by the Phillies.

As for Ta'amu, he played 19 games for the Ole Miss over two seasons, throwing 30 touchdowns and 12 interceptions while completing 64.5 percent of his passes. He went undrafted in 2019 and signed with the Texans, then joined the XFL after he was released by Houston. The XFL ended operations after he started five games for the St. Louis Battlehawks, but Ta'amu was signed by the Kansas City Chiefs. He spent time on the Kansas City practice squad in 2020, joined the Lions practice squad, and was back with the Chiefs in early 2021 before being waived in May.

The Patriots likely won't be signing anyone ahead of the season -- barring any injuries -- but these workouts let Bill Belichick and crew get a glimpse of these players should the need arise at some point during the preseason or regular season.

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