Injury Report: Patriots Healthier, But Still Shorthanded Along Offensive Line
By Gregory Hunt
In recent weeks, the New England Patriots have been a little shorthanded at cornerback and linebacker due to various injuries, but this situation is improving as the team prepares to face the Washington Redskins Sunday afternoon at Gillette Stadium. On offense, the Patriots are still dealing with a banged-up offensive line, but they should still have enough healthy bodies to get by.
The biggest name on New England's injury report this week is wide receiver Julian Edelman, who is suffering from a knee ailment. It's not clear when the injury occurred, but he is still expected to play on Sunday despite being limited in practice this week. Edelman is the team's most-prolific pass catcher with 52 receptions this season, but quarterback Tom Brady will still have plenty of other options even if Edelmen isn't 100 percent. Danny Amendola, with 26 catches, has performed well in the slot position where Edelman normally lines up, and Brandon LaFell, who returned two weeks ago from a foot injury, gives the Patriots a deep pass-catching threat they haven't had for much of the season.
Another receiver, Keshawn Martin, was as limited at practice due to a hamstring issue. Martin, who has caught six passes this year including one for a touchdown, was inactive for last week's game against the Miami Dolphins, so he may be inactive again this week.
Guard Ryan Wendell, who missed the first five games of the season with an unspecified illness, is now listed on the report with a knee injury, as is rookie guard Shaq Mason. The Patriots currently have only six relatively-healthy offensive linemen on its active roster, so look for both players to still play this week. Two offensive linemen who won't play are tackle Marcus Cannon (toe) and guard Tre' Jackson (knee). Both of them are sitting out practice this week.
Center Bryan Stork, who hasn't played all season due to a concussion, starting practicing in October and may now come off of the injured reserve/eligible to return list. However, its questionable how soon that may happen given the performance of undrafted free agent rookie David Andrews, who has played incredibly well at center in Stork's absence.
The only other offensive player on this week's injury list is running back Dion Lewis. A strained abdomen kept him out of action against the New York Jets on October 25, but he was back in the lineup against the Dolphins and he responded by catching six passes for 93 yards including a 16-yard touchdown reception.
On defense, defensive end Trey Flowers, linebacker Dont'a Hightower and lineback Rufus Johnson were all removed from last week's injury list, but defensive end Jabaal Sheard remains there with an ankle injury. Sheard has missed the previous two games and is not practicing this week. No timetable has been announced for his return.
Also missing practice this week is Duron Harmon, but he was excused from workouts in order to attend to the birth of his son. It was the first time in three seasons with the Patriots that he had ever missed practice. Under head coach Bill Belichick, players who don't practice during the week normally don't play in that week's game, but on Thursday he wouldn't rule out the possibility of Harmon still playing against Washington.
"Every player has their own personal situations that come up from time to time, be they babies, deaths, hospital visits, relatives, so forth and so on," said Belichick. "Each one of them is different and each one of them is about that individual person, what their needs are and what the situation is. There's no set rule or anything because we're all different."
Limited participation in practice:
Julian Edelman, wide receiver (knee)
Dion Lewis, running back (abdomen)
Keshawn Martin, wide receiver (hamstring)
Shaq Mason, guard (knee)
Ryan Wendell, guard (knee)
Did not participate in practice:
Marcus Cannon, tackle (toe)
Duron Harmon, safety (not injury related)
Tre' Jackson, guard (knee)
Jabaal Sheard, defensive end (ankle)
Gregory Hunt is a Boston native and a life-long fan of the Patriots, Red Sox, Bruins and Celtics. He's also particularly fond of lacrosse, IndyCar racing and women's college basketball. He currently works for Examiner.com where he serves as the Senior Manager of Content and Media Access. He also writes for Examiner.com as the New England Patriots Examiner. His work can be found on Examiner.com.
