New England Patriots wide receiver Jordan Matthews suffers a hamstring injury during Sunday’s training camp practice, resulting in his release from the team.
The Boston Globe reported on Wednesday that the Patriots were releasing Matthews with a settlement after he suffered a “significant” hamstring injury while running a pass route.
Matthews was seeking to bounce back after an injury-filled 2017 season. He signed with the Patriots as a free agent in April.
Matthews keeps his $80,000 signing bonus and $130,000 offseason workout bonus and also will receive $90,000 of his $790,000 base salary from the Patriots, the Boston Globe reported.
The Auburn alumnus says a two-year contract won’t change his approach in the New England Patriots’ training camp.
Matthews entered the NFL with the Philadelphia Eagles as the 42nd player picked in the 2014 draft.
In his three seasons with the Eagles, Matthews caught 225 passes for 2,673 yards and 19 touchdowns and missed a 1,000-yard season by 3 receiving yards in 2015. During those three seasons, only 10 other receivers managed to reach Matthews’ totals in all of the three stat categories, and the list included some of the NFL’s best pass-catchers — Antonio Brown, Julio Jones, Demaryius Thomas, Odell Beckham Jr., DeAndre Hopkins, Emmanuel Sanders, Doug Baldwin, Mike Evans, Reggie Cobb and Brandon Marshall.
On August 11th, Philadelphia traded Matthews and a third-round draft choice to the Buffalo Bills for cornerback Ronald Darby.
Notably, Matthews suffered a chest injury in his first practice with Buffalo, which sidelined him for the preseason, and he missed six regular-season games and the Bills’ playoff game.
Matthews returned from in-season surgery for a thumb injury, but he still finished the year on injured reserve after having surgery on his left knee and right ankle in December.
Matthews caught 25 passes for 282 yards and one touchdown for Buffalo last season.
Matthews was an All-State wide receiver at Madison Academy in 2009, when the Mustangs posted a 12-1 record.