Blount Injury Leaves Patriots Extremely Thin At Running Back
By Gregory Hunt
The New England Patriots will play their final home game of the regular season when they face the Tennessee Titans Sunday afternoon at Gillette Stadium. The Patriots have already clinched their 7th consecutive AFC East title, but they are still seeking to earn the number-one seed for the AFC playoffs. The 11-2 Patriots currently sit in the number-one position, one game ahead of the Cincinnati Bengals and Denver Broncos, who are both 10-3.
More injury woes for New England
The 2015 season has been a particularly bad one for the Patriots in terms of injuries. The latest causalities are running back LeGarrette Blount (hip) and defensive end Dominique Easley (thigh), who were both placed on injured reserve this week due to injuries they suffered in Sunday night's win over the Houston Texans.
Easley, who was a first-round pick by New England in 2014, has a history of injuries that dates back to his college days at the University of Florida. It's the second consecutive year that Easley will finish the season on the injured reserve list. He played in only 11 of the team's first 13 games this season, and against Houston he was credited with his second sack of the year before getting hurt.
Blount's injury came five weeks after fellow running back Dion Lewis suffered a season-ending knee injury, so the Patriots are now extremely thin at that position. Brandon Bolden and James White, who both took significant snaps against Houston after Blount went down in the second quarter, are now the only running backs remaining on New England's active roster.
On Tuesday, the Patriots signed former Denver Broncos running back Montee Ball to the practice squad. The 2013 second-round pick was cut by the Broncos on September 6. Ball and White were college roommates when the two of them played together at Wisconsin. Two rookie running backs, Joey Iosefa (Hawaii) and Trey Williams (Texas A&M), remain on the practice squad. Veteran free-agent running back Steven Jackson, who has 11,388 career rushing yards in 11 seasons in the NFL, was reported to be meeting with the Patriots on Wednesday, but there's no word on how likely he is to get signed.
Altogether, 14 players have landed on the Patriots injured reserve this season, including starting offensive linemen Nate Solder and Ryan Wendell. The Patriots are also missing top wide receiver Julian Edelman, who is dealing with a foot injury. Edelman was initially expected to miss the rest of the regular season, but he was spotted practicing in pads with the team on Wednesday.
Brady grows tired of Trump questions
Quarterback Tom Brady's friendship with real estate mogul and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is starting to get extra attention from the news media. Wednesday morning, the New York Daily News published a cover story critical of Brady's continued support of Trump despite the candidate's string of a controversial statements.
Brady's support of Trump became public knowledge after one of Trump's "Make America Great Again" trucker hats was spotted in Brady's locker earlier this season. During a radio interview on Tuesday, Brady reiterated his support, calling Trump a friend and saying, "I support all my friends in everything they do." Brady met Trump 15 years ago after serving as a judge at one of Trump's beauty pageants. After this week's covered story appeared, Brady ended up cutting his Wednesday press conference short when he received back-to-back questions about his relationship with Trump.
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.
