***BREAKING: I don’t know what football god the Patriots ticked off, but they keep paying the piper, injury-wise.
The latest to hit IR is Romeo Doubs. He injured his shoulder on the 42-yard touchdown catch during the first quarter of yesterday’s win over the Jets. He was listed as questionable, then ruled out without playing another snap. Doubs will now miss games against the Bears, Dolphins, Packers, Lions, and Chargers, at minimum.
The free agent acquisition signed a four-year deal worth up to $68 million this offseason. He had 14 catches for 261 yards and three touchdowns through the first six weeks of the season.
The Patriots now have just four receivers active on their 53-man roster: A.J. Brown, Pop Douglas, Efton Chism and Kyle Williams. They also have several wideouts on the practice squad: Kyle Dixon, Chandler Brayboy and Cameron Dorner.
The team signed safety Elliott Davison to the 53 as the corresponding move.***
FOXBOROUGH - Down three starting offensive linemen - four if you count Mike Onwenu - the Patriots could have been in a spot where the offense stopped functioning. Instead, with the likes of Matt Pryor (signed Oct. 1), Walter Rouse (traded for Aug. 28), and rookie Caleb Lomu, they not only survived but chewed up more than 6 minutes of 4th-quarter clock time to take a two-score lead (26-16).
We shouldn’t be surprised. This is what Mike Vrabel has put in the water, so to speak. Unheralded third-string back Corey Kiner got the call to run behind that makeshift group and carried the ball eight straight times (”Maybe high school,” Kiner said of the last time he did that).
A week prior, the Pats stomped the Raiders without their two starting cornerbacks, leaning into more zone coverage than they’ve played all season. They had UDFA Efton Chism make a circus catch to beat the Bills in Buffalo after Mack Hollins left the game. That’s the 6-foot-4, 230-pound Hollins, built to do just about everything, to Chism’s 5-10, 195 (ish on both), who is not, but says, “Whatever they need me to do, I’ll do.”
“Everybody prepares as a starter,” Vrabel said of the approach. “I can't wait to watch those guys that prepare all week without knowing whether they're going to get an opportunity to play. And then when they do, take advantage of it, and that's a testament to those players.”
Who would have guessed the Pats had the depth to survive such issues? Vrabel sounded the alarm after their preseason game against the Eagles.
“I don’t think we have a very deep team,” he said back on August 22nd.
That might as well have been in another world, or season. The Pats churned over 9 players on the roster from late August to now, and beyond the guys I’ve already mentioned, tight end Cameron Latu (on the field for 6 of the 8 Kiner runs on that drive plus a hellacious hit on kickoff), safety Jaylen Reed (special teams, big nickel), DaQuan Jones (third straight week he’s made plays on defense) and Erick Hunter (special teams) all contributed to yesterday’s win.
“Reference the players that we signed or added to our roster at the end of training camp, which was a unique number, I think, for me,” Vrabel added. “Those players got ready to go. They prepared, whether they were on the active roster or whether they were on the practice squad.
“They learned the system, learned what we want to do, whether it's special teams, whether that's offense or defense, and then they've been able to help us. So, that's what we have to continue to do. And then as that gets depleted, then it's the next wave of players that come in to be ready to go on game day.”
That next wave may be called into action on Thursday night in Chicago. The Pats already added a pair of