Donte Stallworth off to quick start in third stint with Patriots

Donte Stallworth’s second stint in New England Patriots ended before it really even got started. The veteran receiver was signed by his former team back in March but was cut in late August.

Five months of work with the Patriots down the drain.

Or so it seemed until New England signed Stallworth for a third time last week, to replaced injured receiver Julian Edelman. Thanks to his familiarity with the offense, Stallworth lost no time in connecting with quarterback Tom Brady for a 63-yard touchdown as part of a 42-14 blowout of the Houston Texans on Monday night.

“That particular play is something that we had worked on, even in the spring,” Stallworth said of his only catch of the game. “It was just an opportunity where they were kind of flat-footed and it gave me an opportunity to run by the guy and Tommy made a great throw. He put it up for me to catch it and that’s what I did.”

Stallworth spent the first four seasons of his career with the New Orleans Saints, followed by a year each with the Philadelphia Eagles, Patriots, Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Ravens. He was suspended by the NFL for the 2010 season after pleading guilty to DUI manslaughter and returned with the Washington Redskins in 2011.

After being released by the Patriots late this summer, Stallworth never caught on with another team, leaving him willing and able to return when he got his most recent call from New England.

“When I first got signed earlier this week it was really good being back around the guys, being back here in the locker room with the fellas,” said Stallworth, who had 46 catches for 697 yards and three touchdowns for the Patriots in 2007. “It’s been a good week. I wanted to come in and make sure that I was prepared. I’ve been studying hard all week and I felt like I was prepared coming in.”

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