FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Running back Montee Ball has been getting ready for his 2015 NFL debut since he was cut by the Broncos in early September.
Now, the former Wisconsin star is in New England, where his season debut could come Sunday.
He has been trying to stay busy, but it hasn’t been easy despite doing just about everything else.
“Running, lifting, eating well and all that stuff,” Ball, 25, said Thursday. “Just the normal stuff, nothing too crazy. But staying on top of my phone, which is the phone calls, and going through tryouts and just staying at it. That’s a process you have to go through.”
With the Patriots down to two running backs, Brandon Bolden and James White, Ball was added to the practice squad Tuesday. He isn’t on the active roster yet, but it’s hard to imagine the Patriots going into Sunday’s game against the Tennessee Titans with only two running backs available.
“Wherever they want me, wherever they need me,” said Ball, who spent his time off at home in Wisconsin. “I’m not in a position anymore to where I can say what I want to do and where I want to be. It’s wherever they want to put me. So whenever my number’s called, I’m going to do what I can.”
The former second-round draft pick played two years with the Broncos, gaining 731 yards and scoring five touchdowns on 175 carries. He fumbled four times, losing all of them, and suffered a groin injury that limited him to five games last season.
After gaining only 68 yards on 32 preseason carries this summer, he got the ax in final preseason cuts.
“It was shocking when the Broncos let me go,” Ball said, “but I believe everything happens for a reason, and given the opportunities I was given there in Denver, I can only look back on them now and get better from them and move on. It’s time to move on — and being a Patriot, you can’t complain at all.
“It looked promising for me leading through the beginning of camp and all that stuff. Then (the Broncos) felt like they needed to move on, trusted in their other players. It’s part of the game. You can’t play the ‘woe is me’ card.”
All you can do, Ball said, is stay ready.
“It was just tough,” he said. “Yesterday was a little tough just getting back in pads. That was funny a couple of times. But it’s fun, man. If you love the game, you’ll become acclimated to it really quickly.”
