New England Patriots rookie wide receiver N’Keal Harry scored the first touchdown of his NFL career in Sunday’s game against the Dallas Cowboys.
Harry caught a 10-yard touchdown pass from Tom Brady with 45 seconds remaining in the first quarter, making a spectacular spinning catch along the far side of the end zone.
The touchdown catch broke a scoreless tie at Gillette Stadium.
New England’s 2019 first-round draft pick made his NFL debut last week against the Philadelphia Eagles after spending the first eight weeks of the season on injured reserve.
The 21-year-old was listed as inactive for the Patriots’ Week 8 game against the Baltimore Ravens.
Watch video of Harry’s first NFL touchdown catch below:
The touchdown was set up by special teams captain Matthew Slater, who blocked a punt that was recovered by Nate Ebner at the Dallas 12-yard line.
Harry was placed on IR on Sept. 2 before the start of the regular season, which meant he was forced to miss the team’s first eight games of the 2019 campaign.
The Patriots did not designate an injury for Harry when they placed him on injured reserve.
ESPN’s Mike Reiss reports Harry was hurt in an Aug. 6 joint practice with the Detroit Lions but played two days later in the preseason opener, in which Harry hobbled off the field after making two catches.
Harry returned to practice Oct. 15, which is permitted by NFL rules. The team had to activate him by 4 p.m. Saturday for him to be eligible for this week’s game against the Ravens.
New England drafted the 6-foot-4, 225-pound receiver out of Arizona State University with the 32nd overall pick.
In college, he caught 213 passes for 2,889 yards and 22 touchdowns in 37 games. He was named to the Pac-12 All-Conference first team in 2018.
Harry is the highest-drafted wide receiver by the Patriots in the Bill Belichick era and has the ability to return punts. He returned nine punts for 152 yards and one touchdown in his final collegiate season, landing on the Pac-12 All-Conference second team as a return specialist.
