What It Means:

Keene isn't a member of the active roster just yet - the team has 21 days to decide to officially bring him off IR. But him getting in a practice session on Wednesday is a good sign as to his potential availability for Sunday's Week 13 game against the Los Angeles Chargers. Of course, the Patriots haven't gone to the tight end often this season, so Keene isn't expected to have much of an impact regardless of his health. Should he be able to return by Sunday, he'd cut into tight end Ryan Izzo's workload.

The Chargers currently rank 19th in the NFL in adjusted net expected points allowed per pass play.