{"id":40603,"date":"2018-03-20T14:34:50","date_gmt":"2018-03-20T18:34:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lwosonnfl.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/?p=40603"},"modified":"2018-04-30T22:05:22","modified_gmt":"2018-05-01T02:05:22","slug":"patriots-release-shea-mcclellin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2018\/03\/20\/patriots-release-shea-mcclellin\/","title":{"rendered":"New England Patriots Release Shea McClellin After Failed Physical"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Linebacker <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/M\/McClSh00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Shea McClellin<\/a><\/strong> has been released by the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/nfl-teams\/patriots\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">New England Patriots<\/a> with a failed physical designation. The designation comes after missing the entirety of the 2017 season due to repeated concussions, which landed McClellin on injured reserve. In total, he only played 14 games with the Patriots.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">The Patriots have released veteran LB Shea McClellin with a failed physical designation, ESPN&#39;s Field Yates reports. McClellin missed the entire 2017 season (concussion), as he had been one of the team&#39;s designated-to-return players on injured reserve&#8230; <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/2ouBQg371W\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/2ouBQg371W<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Mike Reiss (@MikeReiss) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MikeReiss\/status\/975848033362493440?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">March 19, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h1><strong>Linebacker Shea McClellin Released by New England Patriots<\/strong><\/h1>\n<p>While his tenure with New England was short, his contributions at linebacker <a href=\"http:\/\/www.espn.com\/blog\/new-england-patriots\/post\/_\/id\/4812327\/on-day-he-is-released-shea-mcclellin-expresses-appreciation-for-patriots\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">were appreciated<\/a>. In 2016, he was the only player to make <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/nfl-teams\/ravens\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Baltimore Ravens<\/a> kicker <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/T\/TuckJu00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Justin Tucker<\/a><\/strong> miss a field goal attempt. Less than a month later he made Patriots history by delivering a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.patriots.com\/video\/2017\/01\/01\/shea-mcclellin-recovers-forced-fumble-and-takes-down-field\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">69-yard fumble return<\/a> against the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/nfl-teams\/dolphins\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Miami Dolphins<\/a>. During his\u00a0time with the Patriots, McClellin had recorded 41 tackles,\u00a0one sack, and became a Super Bowl champion in the Patriots stunning comeback win over the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/nfl-teams\/falcons\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Atlanta Falcons<\/a> in Super Bowl LI.<\/p>\n<p>The news that McClellin&#8217;s injuries are still having an impact on his ability does not bode well for his career in the larger scope of things. Injuries have haunted McClellin since he started playing in the NFL, and some fans believe this release could signal the end of his career.<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/twitter.com\/mcckshea\/status\/975867133744726018<\/p>\n<h2>New England&#8217;s Linebacker Lineup<\/h2>\n<p>Before the announcement of his release, many Patriots fans were eager to see McClellin return to the field. His return, as well as the return of <strong>Dont&#8217;a Hightower<\/strong>, would have been hugely helpful. However, the loss of McClellin doesn&#8217;t exactly mean tragedy for the team.<\/p>\n<p>With the return of Hightower and <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/L\/LangHa00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Harvey Langi<\/a><\/strong> next season, I don&#8217;t feel that free agent or draft additions are entirely necessary right now. The only free agent linebacker the Patriots should worry about signing (or re-signing) is <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/F\/FlowMa00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Marquis Flowers<\/a><\/strong>. In week 16, Flowers recorded 10 tackles and 2.5 sacks in the win over the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/nfl-teams\/bills\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Buffalo Bills<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/V\/VanNKy00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Kyle Van Noy<\/strong><\/a> and <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/R\/RobeEl00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Elandon Roberts<\/a><\/strong> weren&#8217;t terrible substitutes for Hightower and McClellin last year. Roberts and Van Noy racked up 140 tackles and nearly eight total sacks combined during the 2017 season.<\/p>\n<p>Hightower will likely return as the top linebacker for New England. Van Noy and Roberts should see an increase in activity as well. Flowers,\u00a0if re-signed, should be able to cover up any gaps left open by McClellin&#8217;s departure.\u00a0Langi should also be returning from injury next season and will likely serve as rotational depth alongside <strong>Nicholas Grigsby<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"wMNMHfKYQXRnMLO0tZQ8OQ\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/624687058\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'wMNMHfKYQXRnMLO0tZQ8OQ',sig:'t5x76CUirXecoPoNudUpdoIRGXDvb3OWBAuG8ZVRFJw=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'624687058',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Linebacker Shea McClellin has been released by the New England Patriots with a failed physical designation. The designation comes after missing the entirety of the 2017 season due to repeated concussions, which landed McClellin on injured reserve. In total, he only played 14 games with the Patriots. The Patriots have released veteran LB Shea McClellin [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2508,"featured_media":40630,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"1","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5,36],"tags":[61,38,40,3711],"class_list":["post-40603","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-patriots","category-nfl-news","tag-football","tag-new-england-patriots","tag-nfl","tag-shea-mcclellin"],"modified_by":"Ben Kerr","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40603","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2508"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40603"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40603\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40630"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40603"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40603"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40603"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}