AFC Workouts: Patriots, Judon, Smith-Schuster

As Drake Maye has struggled to find the consistent success he displayed last year to start the season, the Patriots have relied on a healthy running game on the shoulders of lead backs Rhamondre Stevenson and TreVeyon Henderson. Henderson has been dealing with a nagging ankle injury that held him out of the team’s season opener and had him questionable today, and Stevenson has been dealing with a knee issue.

As a result, New England hosted a trio of running backs for a workout this week, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. The tryout was headlined by Terrell Jennings, who was joined by Ulysses Bentley IV and Josh Pitsenberger. Jennings, a third-year undrafted player out of Florida A&M, has spent parts of the past two seasons with the Patriots, so he has plenty of familiarity with the team and their offense. He played in three games as a rookie practice squad elevation then appeared in seven games in Year 2, rushing for a total of 106 yards and a touchdown on 36 carries.

Bentley, undrafted last year out of Ole Miss, appeared in one game as a rookie with the Colts and was recently released after about two weeks on the Saints’ taxi squad. Pitsenberger is an undrafted rookie out of Yale who spent the summer with the Texans. He suffered an ankle injury in his first preseason game, and the Texans placed him on season-ending injured reserve. He was waived with an injury settlement and has been working out for other teams.

Ultimately, the Patriots decided that both rushers were able to play today, and no transaction was made to sign any of the visiting players. Here are a few other recent workouts from around the AFC:

• Amidst a litany of injuries in their group of edge rushers, the Jets hosted veteran pass rusher Matt Judon this week, per Tom Pelissero of The Ringer. Braiden McGregor, Kingsley Jonathan, and Tyler Baron are all on injured lists, and Joseph Ossai was ruled out this week with an ankle injury, limiting the group to four healthy players. New York is fairly familiar with Judon, who notched 28.0 sacks in two seasons with the division-rival Patriots in 2021 and 2022. The workout did not result in a signing.
• The Chargers have struggled to get their passing game going in 2026, and recent injuries to wide receivers Ladd McConkey and Tre’ Harris won’t help. One possible solution could be waiting in free agency. Pelissero also reported this week that Los Angeles played host to veteran wideout JuJu Smith-Schuster this week. Smith-Schuster started 20 games for the Chiefs over the past two seasons and followed Matt Nagy to New York before getting released in training camp. He’s been a free agent ever since and could’ve helped reinforce a depleted group in Los Angeles, but no deal came out of the workout.