Belichick: Mitchell ‘did everything he could' to return before release

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FOXBORO -- When the Patriots waived Malcolm Mitchell on Monday, he was not waived with an injury designation. That means he passed a physical. That means that if Mitchell clears waivers, he will not revert to New England's injured reserve list. He'll instead become a free agent. 

The question then is, why release him if he was healthy? 

If Bill Belichick's comments on Mitchell from Tuesday morning are any indication, even though Mitchell may have been healthy enough to pass a physical, he never quite got to where the team was hoping he'd be. 

Mitchell had not practiced at training camp, instead, he spent his time on a rehab field with other injured teammates. He missed spring practices outside of the team's first OTA. 

Posting to Instagram on Monday night, Mitchell said his "heart hurts" following his release. 

https://www.instagram.com/p/BmKSDAmBbMg/?hl=en&taken-by=money_mitch26

Mitchell, 26, a fourth-round pick from Georgia in 2016, passed through waivers unclaimed, according to Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, and is now a free agent.

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