FOXBORO – The New England Patriots have placed long snapper Lonie Paxton on injured reserve and resigned veteran fullback Larry Centers, the NFL’s all-time leader in career receptions among running backs.

Paxton injured his knee in the team’s 12-0 victory Sunday over Miami.

Sean McDermott, who has played for Miami, Tampa Bay and Houston in his three-year NFL career, will assume Paxton’s duties of snapping on punts, field goals and extra points, head coach Bill Belichick said Wednesday.

Centers appeared in the first six games of the season for New England before injuring his knee. He rushed for 69 yards and caught 17 passes for 96 yards and one touchdown.

The Patriots chose to release Centers with an injury settlement rather than place him on injured reserve, which would have precluded him from returning to action this season.

To make room on the roster for Centers, the Patriots waived veteran wide receiver J.J. Stokes, who was signed Nov. 18 after being waived by Jacksonville. He appeared in two games and caught two passes.

Also Wednesday, the Patriots signed punter Travis Dorsch to their practice squad and waived rookie offensive lineman Jamil Soriano from the practice squad.

Dorsch was the fourth-round draft choice of the Cincinnati Bengals in 2002 but appeared in only one game. He is the second punter to be signed by New England in as many weeks. The team cut Ken Walter last week and signed rookie Brooks Barnard, who punted 10 times for a 36.5 average in the Miami game.

-Associated Pres