Bill Belichick Explains Josh Gordon's IR Designation as a Result of Health, Roster Management

Belichick didn't like the idea of having seven wide receivers on his roster midseason.

Josh Gordon's designation to injured reserve earlier this week was a bit of a surprise. Having a serious injury that required weeks or even month of recovery is what typically merits placement on IR. But not for Josh Gordon, who reportedly was on track to be fully recovered from his lingering injury soon. It was also discovered that Gordon would then be released from the team once he had fully recovered, allowing any team in the league to try and coerce Gordon to their organization.  

Something didn't add up. It still doesn't. 

But as Patriots head coach Bill Belichick explained during his Friday morning press conference, the decision to place Gordon on IR came down to two factors: 1) his health 2) roster management. 

"That's a conversation for later," Belichick said when asked if the team would part ways with Gordon once he is healthy. "He's not healthy right now."

"Look, we're not going to carry 10 receivers...at some point, something has to happen," said Belichick when asked if N'Keal Harry's potential addition played a part in Gordon's designation. 

While seven is the exact number of wide receivers the Patriots would have had - assuming Harry is back soon and Gordon was still on the active roster - that's still a larger number of receivers than New England typically likes to carry at this point in the season. Offensive line in particular is a position that could use a few more heads this year, so carrying a bevy of wideouts isn't smart if you're trying to manage the roster correctly.

The Patriots will now roll on with a WR room that includes Julian Edelman, Mohamed Sanu, Phillip Dorsett, Jakobi Meyers, Gunner Olszewski, and hopefully N'Keal Harry when is eligible to return after Week 9.