FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - The New England Patriots placed veteran cornerback Tyrone Poole on the reserve/injured list today with an ankle injury. The Patriots now report 52 players on the active roster in advance of their game against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday night.
Poole, 33, is in his 10th NFL season and has played in 22 games with 21 starts for the Patriots since joining the team as an unrestricted free agent on March 11, 2003. In his career, the 5-foot-9-inch, 188-pound cornerback has played in 130 games with 110 starts and has recorded 497 tackles (428 solo), five sacks, 17 interceptions, 133 passes defensed, 10 forced fumbles and five fumble recoveries. Poole was originally selected by the Carolina Panthers in the first round (22nd overall) of the 1995 NFL Draft out of Fort Valley State. He was with Carolina (1995-97), Indianapolis (1998-2000), Denver (2001-02) prior to arriving in New England prior to the 2003 season. In his first year with the Patriots (2003), Poole started all 16 regular-season games and all three playoff games as the Patriots won Super Bowl XXXVIII. That season, he tied for the team lead and ranked second in the AFC with six interceptions, and his 21 passes defensed ranked fourth in the NFL. Last season, he played in a total of five games with four starts before being placed on injured reserve on Dec. 17, 2004. This season, Poole played in one game, starting at cornerback in the Patriots' season-opener against Oakland.
