Patriots claim quarterback Nathan Rourke off waivers from Jaguars
BOSTON -- Hours after losing Will Grier to the Chargers and a week after losing Malik Cunningham to the Ravens, the Patriots have added a quarterback.
The Patriots claimed quarterback Nathan Rourke, after he had been waived by the Jaguars.
The #Patriots claimed QB Nathan Rourke off waivers from the #Jaguars, per source.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) December 18, 2023
So after losing Will Grier to the #Chargers, New England's QB depth chart is full again with Rourke, the onetime CFL standout.
The 25-year-old Rourke signed with the Jaguars in January but has not played in an NFL game. He did play in the preseason, completing 23 of his 35 passes (65.7 percent) for 348 yards (9.9 Y/A) with one touchdown and zero interceptions.
Rourke did play two seasons in the Canadian Football League, and he threw 25 touchdowns with 10 interceptions last year for the British Columbia Lions. He also rushed 39 times for 304 yards with seven touchdowns.
Rourke played collegiately at Ohio, where he threw 60 touchdowns and 20 interceptions from 2017-19 for the Bobcats.
Similar to the bouncing back and forth to the active roster and practice squad that went on with Cunningham and Zappe this season, Rourke was waived on three separate occasions by the Jaguars since the end of the preseason. He was waived on Aug. 28 and signed to the practice squad two days later. He was signed to the active roster in mid-October but was waived again after three days. He re-signed to the practice squad in late October and was eleveated for a game in Week 14, but he was waived again over the weekend.
Including Mac Jones, Bailey Zappe, Cunningham and Grier, the newcomer Rourke becomes the eighth quarterback to join the Patriots roster this year, along with Trace McSorley, Matt Corral and Ian Book. The Patriots as a team rank 25th in touchdown passes and 29th in passer rating this season.