The New England Patriots whittled their roster down to the required 80 on Sunday by releasing nine players, including eight undrafted rookie free agents signed in 2020.

Following the release of defensive back Lenzy Pipkins Saturday, the Pats also added rookie free agent quarterbacks J'Mar Smith and Brian Lewerke to the pile of cuts, a league source confirmed.

Also in the group that was slashed were wide receivers Isaiah Zuber, Sean Riley, and Will Hastings; linebacker Kyahva Tezino; defensive tackle Courtney Wallace, and safeties Adarius Pickett and Malik Gant.

Only Gant had been with the team previously. He was an undrafted rookie signed last season, but spent the year on injured reserve. Given an altered training camp due to COVID-19, odds were highly stacked against these players making the final cut.

But while eight undrafted rookies from this season were released, there are still eight that remain including wide receiver Jeff Thomas (Miami), former linebacker De'Jon "Scoota" Harris (Arkansas), tight end Jake Burt (Boston College), TE/LB Rashod Berry (Ohio State), defensive linemen Bill Murray (William & Mary) and Nick Coe (Auburn), running back J.J. Taylor (Arizona), and cornerback Myles Bryant (Washington).

The Patriots have had an undrafted rookie free agent make the team 16 seasons in a row. The list has certainly narrowed, and the odds still aren't great for one of them making it.

Harris received the most guaranteed money of the crew. Thomas, meanwhile, didn't get much guaranteed money, but he has great upside as a receiver.

With training camp on the horizon, rookies and quarterbacks are expected in Foxborough on Monday for testing for the coronavirus. Veterans follow suit on Tuesday.

Players will be tested daily for the first two weeks of training camp, and that will drop to every other day if the rate of positive tests dips below five percent.