Cole Strange continues to work his way back from a knee injury suffered last season. He will not return to the Patriots’ lineup on Sunday against the Colts. Michael Dwyer/Associated Press

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — New England Patriots offensive lineman Cole Strange is expected to play this season, but won’t suit up Sunday against the Colts.

The Patriots have until Dec. 10 to activate Strange off the physically unable to perform list. Strange completed his second week of practice Friday. After facing the Colts on Sunday, the Patriots have their bye week. They return to action Dec. 15 at Arizona.

Strange, a first-round pick in 2022, hasn’t played since suffering a torn patellar tendon last December. The Patriots have shuffled their starting offensive line all season because of injuries, and Strange has been practicing at guard and center since returning to the field. He has made all 27 of his career starts at left guard.

After their trip to Arizona on Dec. 15, the Patriots will travel to Buffalo the following week and host the Chargers and Bills to close out their season

PATRIOTS OFFENSIVE GUARD Michael Jordan has re-signed to the practice squad.

Jordan started 11 of the Patriots’ 12 games this season at left guard, but was released Tuesday after struggling in last weekend’s 34-15 loss at Miami. The 6-foot-6, 315-pounder has one game-day elevation remaining, meaning he could still play even though he’s not currently on the active roster.

Jordan’s departure from the active roster indicates the Patriots will prioritize more playing time for fourth-round rookie Layden Robinson and second-year offensive lineman Sidy Sow over their last five games.

Sow played right tackle last Sunday in place of starter Demontrey Jacobs, who was benched in the fourth quarter. It’s unknown how the Patriots will configure their starting offensive line this weekend against the Colts.

To make room for Jordan, the Patriots released offensive tackle Jalen McKenzie from their practice squad.

ON THANKSGIVING, the Chicago Bears lost a mind-boggling heartbreaker at Detroit.

The game clock ran out on the final play, a third-and-26 snap that started after quarterback Caleb Williams took a sack while trailing by three with 36 seconds left. The Bears had one timeout remaining, but never called it while Williams received the play call, got settled at the line and finally snapped the ball with six seconds on the clock. Once Williams’ deep heave fell incomplete, the game was over.

Patriots Coach Jerod Mayo watched the ending unfold at home and picked up the phone soon after the Lions won, 23-20. He dialed up Evan Rothstein, the Patriots’ assistant quarterbacks coach and director of game management, to discuss Chicago’s clock management.

“It was great. Great conversation,” Mayo said Friday in a morning press conference. “Oftentimes, it’s easy to second guess and look back on those decisions that are made and say, ‘Well, that’s crazy.’ For me, it’s another opportunity to be a better head football coach.”

Rothstein has a direct line to Mayo’s headsets on game day to relay advice on fourth-down decisions and clock management. Mayo indicated their conversation settled on a different decision than the one the Bears made.

“I’m not going to get into that whole world, but I probably would’ve handled it a little differently,” he said. “Again, easy for me to say sitting just right here.”

End-of-half clock management was a problem for Mayo in early losses to Seattle and Miami. The rookie coach also ranks among the league’s most conservative on fourth down. Rothstein, a holdover from Bill Belichick’s coaching staff, held a similar role last year.

“We spend a lot of time talking about situational football and things like that,” Mayo said. “As a head coach on the field, there’s a lot going on; whether it’s people talking to you through your headset and all that stuff. I think it’s good that you have a separate channel where it’s the two of us on there really discussing and staying ahead of the game, talking about every situation and how to approach it.”