FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Faced with the potential of going into Sunday's game against the Tennessee Titans with just two running backs, the New England Patriots promoted rookie running back/fullback Joey Iosefa from their practice squad on Saturday.

The 6-foot, 245-pound Iosefa, who entered the NFL as a seventh-round draft choice of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (231st overall), had signed with the Patriots' practice squad on Oct. 21.

Iosefa played in 32 games (29 starts) at Hawaii and rushed 512 times for 2,218 yards and 21 touchdowns, while adding 60 receptions for 438 yards and three touchdowns. He also threw for two touchdowns.

Iosefa (pronounced YO-sef-a) joins Brandon Bolden and James White as running backs on the 53-man roster. He wears No. 47.

To make room for Iosefa, the Patriots released linebacker Eric Martin.