CARLINVILLE - Kyle Dixon’s bid to earn a spot on the New England Patriots’ roster moves into the preseason Thursday, when the Carlinville, Illinois, wide receiver and the Patriots host Indianapolis at 6:30 p.m. at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts.
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Dixon, a 6-foot-4, 216-pound wide receiver from Culver-Stockton College in Canton, Missouri, signed with New England as an undrafted rookie free agent May 8 after the NFL draft last spring. The preseason schedule is the next step before NFL teams cut their rosters to 53 players by 5 p.m. Aug. 30.
As of Aug. 9, most online depth charts for the Patriots listed Dixon either third or fourth at right wide receiver. New England, the defending AFC champion, added former Philadelphia standout A.J. Brown and Green Bay’s Romeo Doubs to its receiving corps in the offseason.
In June, ESPN.com wrote that while New England does not have “the best wide receiver room in the league, it might be the deepest.”
The Patriots have held training camp at the facilities surrounding Gillette Stadium since 2003.
After Thursday’s preseason opener against Indianapolis, New England is scheduled to host Philadelphia at 6 p.m. Aug. 22. Both games are on NFL Network. The Patriots conclude the preseason at Cleveland at 7 p.m. Aug. 27, with that game carried on Amazon Prime.
Dixon played two seasons at Culver-Stockton, finishing with 143 receptions for 2,394 yards and 24 touchdowns. In 2025, he caught 83 passes for 1,282 yards and 12 touchdowns. He also was the first wide receiver in Culver-Stockton history to record two 1,000-yard seasons.
Before switching to football, Dixon was a college baseball pitcher for Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and Georgia Gwinnett.
At Carlinville High School, Dixon set school records for receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns in a season. He is the son of Monica and Tim Dixon and has two older brothers, Ethan and Jacob.
