Saturday Patriots roster moves include one in, one out for Bills game

With their roster moves on Saturday, the New England Patriots added one player to their roster for this Sunday's game against the Buffalo Bills, and ruled another out. The team announced linebacker Jahlani Tavai is being activated from IR, and that pass rusher K'Lavon Chaisson will not play in the game.

Tavai is being activated after returning to practice this week. He spent the first four weeks of the season on IR, after missing most of training camp due to a calf injury. Speaking on Friday, head coach Mike Vrabel was complimentary about Tavai's effort in getting ready to return.

"Worked really hard to be in shape, trying to simulate football shape and his return to play, trying to maximize the time away from the actual practice, and working with our training staff, working with our strength coaches and was ready to go," Vrabel said. "And so, "It was exciting to see him get out there and get practice, defense and the special teams, and trying to see where he's at."

Getting Tavai back will be a boost for a Patriots linebacker group that has struggled to start the season. Free agent signing Robert Spillane has been better in recent weeks but the team is still looking for somebody to step up in the role next to him. Christian Elliss has had that job so far, but was benched in each of the last two games.

Meanwhile, the team will be without Chaisson, who is dealing with a knee injury. He did not practice on Friday, and was initially listed as questionable on Friday's injury report. Without him, bigger roles could be in store for both Anfernee Jennings and Keion White.

Additionally, the Patriots did not elevate any players from the practice squad for this game. It's the first time they haven't had any elevations this season. Among other things, that could be a sign that the other players as questionable - defensive tackle Milton Williams (ankle) and cornerback Carlton Davis (illness) are trending in the right direction for Sunday night.

On the other side, Buffalo did use both of its practice squad elevation spots. The Bills are adding two defensive tackles in Zion Logue and Phidarian Mathis, potenitally looking to beef up what has been one of the worst run defense in the NFL to start the year. Buffalo also signed linebacker Jimmy Ciarlo from the practice squad, and placed cornerback Dorian Strong on IR to open up the spot.