Marcus Cannon's injury situation could lead to several dominoes falling on the line

FOXBOROUGH — Early in Wednesday’s training camp practice, Patriots right tackle Marcus Cannon left with what looked like a recurrence of the ankle injury that limited him to seven games last season.

In a vacuum, an injury to a starter is something that needs to be dealt with immediately. But when it comes to offensive line play, it’s the sort of thing that could also set off a domino effect, especially when you consider New England’s current situation.

First, let's consider Cannon.


The right tackle was a borderline Pro Bowler in 2016 before an ankle injury in October 2017 left him sidelined for the rest of last year. He looked good this summer, but was frankly limited because of the injury, one that could end up lingering.

“If his current issue is related to his ankle then yes, this can linger. Most likely an ankle scope plus or minus a screw across the ‘high ankle’ syndesmotic ligaments,” our own Dr. Jessica Flynn said when asked about Cannon’s injury history. “Since he’s had ankle issues before last season, he very well could have cartilage/scar tissue problems and is at increased risk of re-injury, as he’s a big body on tiny ankles.”