Taylor has wrist injury

Running back Fred Taylor carries the ball last season for the Jaguars. (Reuters)

Patriots running back Fred Taylor, who has a history of nagging injuries, recently suffered a sprained left wrist while he was exercising, according to medical sources.

Taylor hurt the wrist when he fell on his outstretched left hand. It appears the injury occurred while Taylor was working out on his own in South Florida and not at Gillette Stadium under the team's supervision.

Taylor, who signed a two-year, $5 million deal to join the Patriots in February, sought treatment for the wrist injury on April 24, complaining of having pain for two days.

A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan did not reveal any fractures, dislocations or ligament damage and the initial diagnosis of a sprain was confirmed.

Taylor was told to put the wrist in a velcro splint, rest it and ice it. Last Monday (April 27), doctors told Taylor that he could gradually ramp up his use of the wrist to full bore over the following two or three weeks. The injury has affected Taylor's ability to lift weights, as that activity in particular aggravates the wrist.

It is not known if the wrist injury will prevent Taylor from participating in the start of the Patriots organized team activities, the first league authorized, on-field practices that veteran players can take part in, later this month. The Patriots first OTA session runs from May 18 to May 20.

Taylor told the Globe in mid-April, before the injury, that he was training in South Florida and was planning on joining the Patriots off-season program this month and participating in the first OTA session.

"I'll be joining the team May 11," Taylor said. "That's a week prior to the rookie passing camp, so I can kind of get with the coaches, get in the strength and conditioning program, and be around the guys for a week, learn the system for a bit. When the rookies take the field for the 18th, I'll go out there with them so I can get a two-week learning curve before the initial veteran passing camp. I'll practice the OTAs until June and the minicamp. Now, I'm just training in South Florida like I usually do."

Jason Rosenhaus of Rosenhaus Sports Representation, which represents Taylor, said that neither he nor his brother, Drew, had any comment on Taylor's status, when reached yesterday.

"We don't comment on injuries," he said.