Devin McCourty, Cordarrelle Patterson Return To Patriots Practice As Full Participants
BOSTON (CBS) -- A Patriots captain was back on the practice field on Wednesday, and that bodes well for his status for the team's playoff opener on Sunday.
Defensive captain Devin McCourty was present at the start of Wednesday's practice session in Foxboro, and he was a full participant. That news comes after McCourty missed last week's practice sessions after leaving Week 17's win with a head injury.
In more good news for the Patriots, receiver/kick returner Cordarrelle Patterson was a full participant in practice, after he missed Week 17's game due to a knee injury.
Tight end Dwayne Allen (knee) and defensive lineman Deatrich Wise (ankle) were the lone limited participants for the Patriots.
Out in Los Angeles, running back Melvin Gordon (knee) and center Mike Pouncey (thumb) did not participate in Chargers practice.
MCourty suffered the injury when he absorbed a head-on collision with teammate Malcom Brown while making a tackle against the Jets.
Here's the play that knocked Devin McCourty out of the game. Caught all 320 pounds of Malcom Brown in the earhole. Ouch. pic.twitter.com/xKRVGCbur6
— Michael Hurley (@michaelFhurley) January 2, 2019
Also in the positive
The 31-year-old McCourty started all 16 games this season, and he's played in 158 of a possible 163 games in his career -- regular season and postseason included. He's never missed a playoff game.
Tune in to Sunday's Patriots-Chargers divisional round clash on WBZ-TV -- the flagship station of the New England Patriots! Coverage begins Friday night with Patriots All Access at 7 p.m., and kicks off on Sunday with a special hour-long edition of Patriots GameDay at 11 a.m.! We'll break it all down and hear from Bill Belichick and Tom Brady LIVE on Patriots 5th Quarter on WBZ-TV after the game!