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New England's Offensive Line Is Hurting, But LaFell Is Getting Healthier

By Gregory Hunt

After enjoying an early bye week, New England Patriots looked like a relatively healthy team going into Week 5 of the NFL season. The offensive line was a little banged up, but the team had so much depth in that area that it wasn't much of a concern. However, in the two games that New England has played since then, the team has continued to suffer injuries to its offensive linemen, forcing the team to do a little juggling.

The offensive lineman shuffle continues for New England

This season, the offensive line for the Patriots has been a revolving door. It began toward the end of training camp when starting center Bryan Stork was sidelined with a concussion, and it continued when starting guard Ryan Wendell come down with an undisclosed illness and starting tackle Nate Solder suffered a torn bicep muscle. Solder's injury put him on injured reserve, ending his season. Now, the latest injuries are to veteran guard/tackle Marcus Cannon, who left Sunday night's game against the Indianapolis Colts with a toe injury, and rookie guard Shaq Mason, who is dealing with a knee injury.

As a result, several names have been shuffled around on the Patriots depth chart. Cannon, who has been rotated into the guard and tackle positions throughout the season, began the year as a reserve but is now listed as the starting left tackle. Mason, who was selected by New England in the fourth round of this year's draft and previously received a starting nod in Week 2 against the Buffalo Bills, is now listed as the starting left guard. However, neither player practiced on Wednesday, so it remains to be seen if either one will play in Sunday's upcoming game against the New York Jets.

Fortunately, the Patriots won't be shorthanded for too long. Stork has been cleared to practice and could play as early as Week 9 against the Washington Redskins. Wendell has yet to be activated for a game this season, but he is practicing with the team and he is no longer listed on New England's injury report. Cameron Fleming was promoted from the practice squad to the active roster last week, so he'll likely see plenty of snaps against the Jets. Rookie Tre' Jackson, another fourth-round pick by New England in this year's draft, has already logged a couple of starts and could get another on Sunday. Brennan Williams, a second-year offensive lineman that was released by the Jacksonville Jaguars in August, was signed to the practice squad earlier this week. Williams is the son of former Patriots defensive end Brent Williams, who played for New England from 1986-93.

LaFell's return draws closer

Wide receiver Brandon LaFell, who was placed on the physically unable to perform list at the beginning of the season, returned to practice on Wednesday, which was the first day he was eligible to do so. LaFell is dealing with a foot issue that required offseason surgery and forced him to miss spring and summer workouts with the team. When healthy, LaFell is New England's most dangerous weapon in the deep passing game, so he could provide an extra dimension to an offense that is already drawing comparisons to the 2007 team that scored an average of nearly 37 points per game. The team now has three weeks to decide if it wants to remove LaFell from the PUP list and promote him to the active roster.

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.

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