Riley Reiff, Trey Flowers, and Cody Davis return to practice for Patriots

FOXBORO -- Good injury news has been hard to come by inside Gillette Stadium over the last few days. And while there was more bad news Wednesday morning, the afternoon offered a smidgen of positivity for the injury-riddled team.

When the Patriots took the practice field for the first time of Week 5, three of the five players eligible to return to practice did just that. New England welcomed back offensive lineman Riley Reiff, defensive lineman Trey Flowers, and special teamer Cody Davis on Wednesday.

Reiff was on IR with a knee injury that he suffered in the preseason, while Flowers and Davis spent the offseason on the PUP list. The Patriots now have 21 days to activate each of them to the active roster, or they will have to miss the rest of the season. 

While Flowers and Davis will likely be depth pieces should they make it to the active roster, Reiff has a chance to help along the struggling New England offensive line. How much relief remains unknown, since the veteran had issues at tackle in the preseason and shifted to guard before getting hurt.

Of course, it wasn't all good news for the Patriots. It was reported Wednesday morning that standout rookie Christian Gonzalez will likely miss the rest of the season with a torn labrum that he suffered in last Sunday's loss in Dallas. In addition, receiver Tyquan Thornton and cornerback Jack Jones (both of whom are on IR) were not on the field Wednesday, which was the first day they were eligible to return. 

Gonzalez and Matthew Judon -- who was also hurt Sunday and will be out for a while -- were the only two players missing from Wednesday's practice. The Patriots will release their first injury report of the week early Wednesday evening.

We've got everything Saints-Patriots covered on WBZ-TV -- the television home of the New England Patriots! Coverage begins Wednesday night with Patriots 1st Down at 9:30pm on TV38, and continues Friday night with Patriots All Access on WBZ-TV at 7pm. Pregame coverage begins at 11:30am Sunday morning with Patriots GameDay, the Pats and the Saints kick off just after 1pm, and we'll wrap it all up on Patriots 5th Quarter on TV38 immediately following the game!