NFL: Naples alum McCrary out

The 6-foot, 247-pound fullback, a Naples High graduate in his seventh year of National Football League action, was placed on injured reserve Wednesday because of a leg injury.

The move effectively ends his season.

The 31-year-old McCrary played sparingly in the first year of the two-year contract he signed only three weeks after he was released by the San Diego Chargers last spring.

McCrary underwent offseason ankle surgery and nursed a hamstring injury early on in camp.

He was waived two days before New England's game against Tennessee on Oct. 5. He had been inactive each of the two weeks before that.

The Monday following his being waived, however, McCrary was brought back because of an injury-riddled backfield.

Used primarily as a blocking back, he appeared in six games for the Patriots this fall.

He had just three carries for three yards and he also caught one pass for four yards. While McCrary could not be reached for comment Thursday, New England head coach Bill Belichick addressed the roster move at his daily session with the media in Foxboro, Mass.

"We re-signed Dedric Ward and placed Fred McCrary on injured reserve," Belichick said.

"Unfortunately that is not really what we were hoping for with Fred and his situation.

"We are just a little thin at receiver and, of course, Dedric probably came about as close to being kept on the 53-man roster as you could possibly be."

In addition to McCrary, veteran fullback Larry Centers also is out with an injury. Patrick Pass, a fourth-year player out of Georgia and a regular on all the special teams this season, is now the only fullback listed on the team's depth chart.

On the heels of last Sunday night's 12-0 victory over the Dallas Cowboys, the 8-2 Patriots travel to Houston to take on the 4-6 Texans at 1 p.m. Sunday.

"It doesn't really change much of anything from the last couple of weeks because Fred didn't play in the Dallas game," Belichick said, "and it would have been probably a long shot for him to play in this game, although we were hopeful. It probably didn't look like he was going to make it.

It is where we were."

Plagued by injuries this season, McCrary started all 16 games at fullback for the Chargers last season, catching 22 passes for 96 yards and a career-high three touchdowns.

He also created holes in opposing defenses so that LaDainian Tomlinson could become the top single-season rusher in Chargers history with 1,683 yards.

McCrary's career also has included stops in Philadelphia and New Orleans.