FOXBOROUGH — It's no secret the Patriots have enjoyed, for the most part, good injury luck this season. But that has come to an end this week as seven starters will be out for Sunday's game against the Jets, including Milton Williams, who will not be activated off the injured list.
"Just trying to get back into it," Mike Vrabel said of Williams. "I think he's working hard. I would say that it'd be tough to see a lot just from the way that the practices were structured, but he's working hard to get back, and again, it's good to see him out there with the team. That's just the first step of it."
In addition to Williams, LB Robert Spillane (ankle), DT Khyiris Tonga (foot), DE Harold Landry (knee), LG Jared Wilson (concussion protocol), WRs Kayshon Boutte (concussion protocol) and Mack Hollins (abdomen) are out for the game. WR DeMario Douglas (hamstring) and RB TreVeyon Henderson (concussion protocol) are questionable.
"Everybody deals with it," Vrabel said. "It's not something that's new to the National Football League, to me or anybody else. We'll elevate some guys, have to sign some guys and go from there."
Options on the practice include: DT — Jeremiah Pharms, Leonard Taylor and Fabian Lovett; RB — Elijah Mitchell; WR — Jeremiah Webb, John Jiles, and Brandon Smith.
Players like WR Efton Chism could see increased playing time, although Boutte and Hollins are more boundary players than a slot like Chism.
"He's always prepared," Vrabel said. "There's hard workers on this team. I would say none that probably work harder than Efton. I'm not going to say that he's the hardest worker, but you’d be hard-pressed to find players that work harder than him, to be prepared, to be ready and take advantage of his opportunity, which it looks, by all accounts, that he'll get opportunities."
With Landry out, expect Anfernee Jennings and Elijah Ponder to fill most of the void. But fifth-round pick Bradyn Swinson could see his first playing time on defense (10 snaps on special teams), something he said he's ready for.
"These are just the things you prepare for all the time," Swinson said at his locker. "This isn't the first time this has happened with me, it happened my sophomore year in college. You just get caught up, honestly, just being prepared for the moment, making the most out of my opportunities that I can.This is the opportunity I've always wanted; you've been sitting around waiting for it. So you just got to make the most of it."
Swinson was a fifth-round pick but never found traction in the summer and was released before signing back to the practice squad. He got signed to the 53-man roster on Nov. 25 when another team showed interest.
"I was telling my family that all the time, I was also just telling some of the guys on the team, (being released) was kind of