Patriots Injury Report: Edelman Out, Gronkowski and Hightower Questionable
BOSTON (CBS) -- The Patriots had no surprises in store for Friday's injury report before the team departs for Houston to play the Texans on Sunday Night Football, but did have a welcome sight in the return of Julian Edelman to practice.
Rob Gronkowski continues to make his return to practice, but his status remains generally "week-to-week." Edelman returned to the practice field Friday and did plenty of jogging and stretching as he recovers from a broken foot. But Edelman remains sidelined, as he is ruled "out" and will not play against the Texans, while Gronkowski is listed as "questionable" with his knee injury suffered against Denver in Week 12. Both Gronk and Edelman had limited participation in Friday's practice.
In an increasingly peculiar back-and-forth between the Patriots and New England media, Gronkowski spoke to reporters for the first time since the injury on Friday, in the form of a brief statement. He directed further questions to Bill Belichick, who seemingly reluctantly released a statement about Gronk's injury and was visibly displeased with having to talk about it.
Linebacker Dont'a Hightower, the team's key injury on the other side of the ball and arguably the most valuable player on the defense, is listed as "questionable" as he recovers from a sprained MCL that has sidelined him since the second half of the Denver game. The "questionable" tag typically means 50/50, and in Hightower's case it rings true; the Boston Herald's Jeff Howe tweeted that the Patriots "have not yet determined" if Hightower will take the field Sunday night.
Also listed as "questionable" are receiver Danny Amendola, tight end Scott Chandler, safety Patrick Chung, cornerback Justin Coleman, offensive lineman Josh Kline, and special teams stalwart Matthew Slater.
Offensive lineman Marcus Cannon (toe), defensive end Chandler Jones (abdomen), safety Devin McCourty (shoulder), and tight end Michael Williams (knee) are all listed as "probable". The Texans, meanwhile, listed all 16 players on their injury report as "probable," among them J.J. Watt with a broken hand. Star receiver DeAndre Hopkins was a new addition to the list Friday with a hamstring injury.
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