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Former Washington State receiver Cracraft gets workout with New England Patriots

River Cracraft smiles from the sidelines against BSU during the first half of a college football game on Saturday, September 9, 2017, at Martin Stadium in Pullman, Wash. Tyler Tjomsland/THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW (Tyler Tjomsland / The Spokesman-Review)
By Theo Lawson theol@spokesman.com(509) 459-5584
River Cracraft smiles from the sidelines against BSU during the first half of a college football game on Saturday, September 9, 2017, at Martin Stadium in Pullman, Wash. Tyler Tjomsland/THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW (Tyler Tjomsland / The Spokesman-Review)

Wes Welker and Danny Amendola are both slotbacks who played under Mike Leach before moving on to successful NFL careers with the New England Patriots. River Cracraft hopes to be the next.

The former Washington State wide receiver got an audition with Bill Belichick’s club on Monday, according to Patriots ESPN reporter Mike Reiss, and worked out alongside two other former Pac-12 pass-catchers – Cal’s Kenny Lawler and Colorado’s Nelson Spruce.

Cracraft didn’t finish his senior season at Washington State because of a torn ACL sustained during a 2016 game against Cal. He spent the better part of nine months in rehabilitation and declared he was fully recovered in an interview with KREM TV’s Darnay Tripp prior to the Cougars’ Sept. 9 game against Boise State, which Cracraft attended.

New England has been bugged by injury at inside receiver this season. Julian Edelman tore his ACL in a preseason game against the Detroit Lions and has been ruled out or the season. Amendola, who played for Leach at Texas Tech, didn’t appear for the Patriots on Sunday against New Orleans because of a concussion. He’s also nursing a knee injury.