With the Redskins thin at the wide receiver position due to injuries, the Redskins have signed wide receiver Jimmy Farris, the team announced on Monday.
Farris is a third-year player who impressed Redskins coaches in training camp but was among the team's final preseason roster cuts.
To make room for Farris, the Redskins released wide receiver Rich Parson.
Farris, 6-0 and 200 pounds, provides some insurance and depth on special teams. He is also familiar with the Redskins' offensive system, having worked it in all last offseason and during training camp.
"It's always nice when you can come back to something you already know," Farris said. "I don't have to be inactive for three weeks until I get my bearings. I feel like I was gone on an extended bye week and now I'm back to help us out down the stretch run."
With James Thrash expected to be sidelined with a hamstring injury, David Patten on injured reserve and Parson back on the practice squad, the team now has just three healthy wide receivers on the roster: Santana Moss, Taylor Jacobs and Farris. It's possible that another receiver could be added later this week.
"I'm excited to come back," Farris said. "I was a third receiver in Atlanta in 2003, so the role is something that I'm familiar with, if that's what I'm called on to do."
Farris had a solid preseason with the Redskins, but was caught up in a numbers crunch at the position and ultimately released. Until Monday, he had been out of football.
He recorded six receptions for 106 yards and two touchdowns in the Redskins' preseason games, with both touchdown catches--a 22-yarder from Mark Brunell and a 37-yarder from Jason Campbell--coming in the preseason finale against the Baltimore Ravens.
Farris spent the 2003-04 season with the Atlanta Falcons, appearing in 30 games and playing mainly on special teams. He logged six catches for 100 yards and two touchdowns in the 2003 season, with his first career reception coming against the Redskins on a 42-yard touchdown.
Farris has also had brief stints with the New England Patriots and San Francisco 49ers. He attended Montana University, where he recorded 21 touchdown catches and ranks eighth on Montana's all-time list 2,233 career receiving yards.
Meantime, Patten was back at Redskins Park on Monday, walking with a crutch. His arthroscopic knee surgery "went well," he said, and he is scheduled to begin his rehab in two weeks.
