The Patriots announced Wednesday they have signed wide receiver Britt Davis to the practice squad and released tight end Garrett Mills from the practice squad.

Davis, 25, is a first-year player from Northern Illinois. He originally entered the NFL as a rookie free agent with the New York Jets in 2009 and spent part of that year on the New York practice squad. Davis, 6-foot-3, 205 pounds, was released by the Jets after training camp in 2010 and was then was signed by Denver where he began the year on the practice squad. Davis was signed to the 53-man roster on Dec. 13, 2010 and played in three games for the Broncos. He was release by Denver at the end of training camp this past summer.

Mills, 28, originally entered the NFL as a fourth-round draft pick of the Patriots in the 2006 NFL Draft out of Tulsa and spent the majority of his rookie season with New England on the injured reserve list. Mills, 6-foot-1, 235 pounds is a veteran of five NFL seasons and has played with New England (2006), Minnesota (2007-09), Philadelphia (2010) and Cincinnati (2010). After being listed as a game inactive for the first nine contests of his rookie season in 2006, Mills finished the year on the injured reserve list with hip and thigh injuries. He was waived by the Patriots at the end of training camp in 2007 and was claimed off waivers by Minnesota. After two seasons seeing limited action for the Vikings in 2007 and 2008, he split the 2009 season between the Minnesota active roster and practice squad but did not see any game action. Garrett went to training camp with Minnesota in 2010 but was waived prior to the start of the regular season. He then was signed to the Philadelphia practice squad before being signed to the active 53-man roster. Garrett played in seven games with three starts last season with Philadelphia and registered two receptions for 19 yards. He was released by the Eagles on Dec. 21 and claimed off waivers by Cincinnati, where he finished the season. He was waived by Cincinnati on Aug. 16. He joined the New England practice squad on Sept. 14.