Injury Report: Patriots Injury List Gets Smaller, But Not By Much
By Gregory Hunt
The Patriots experienced a rash of injuries immediately following their bye in Week 4 of the 2015 NFL season, but things are now getting slightly better as New England prepares to face the Miami Dolphins in a Thursday night game at Gillette Stadium. Eleven players were listed on last week's injury report, but one of them, wide receiver/gunner Matthew Slater, is not listed on this week's report as his knee injury from Week 6 appears to have fully healed.
Defensive end Trey Flowers (knee/shoulder), linebacker Dont'a Hightower (ribs) and guard Josh Kline (shoulder) all had limited participation in practice this week, but they are all fully participating in practice this week despite the quick turnaround to a Thursday game. In Sunday night's 30-23 win over the New York Jets at Gillette Stadium, Hightower and Kline both started while Flowers saw action off the bench. For Flowers, it was the rookie's official NFL debut.
New England is particularly shorthanded at running back and along the offensive line. Running backs Brandon Bolden (hamstring) and Dion Lewis (abdomen) were both inactive against the Jets, which may have been a factor in the Patriots running only nine rushing plays compared to 54 passing plays in that game. LeGarrette Blount and James White combined for 10 touches against the Jets and may get more against the Dolphins.
Rookie guard Shaq Mason (knee) and tackle Marcus Cannon (toe) were also inactive on Sunday, so the Patriots ended up playing that game with only six offensive linemen and a total of 18 offensive players. The good news from Sunday is that offensive lineman Ryan Wendell saw his first action of the season after being sidelined with an unspecified illness. Also, Mason is practicing this week on a limited basis, so there's an outside chance he may be active on Thursday.
Also inactive on Sunday were wide receiver Keshawn Martin (hamstring) and defensive end Jabaal Sheard (ankle). Martin's injury occurred during practice last week, while Sheard has not seen any action since getting knocked out of New England's Week Six game against the Indianapolis Colts. Martin is seeing limited practice this week, but with the return of fellow receiver Brandon LaFell from foot surgery, Martin will likely be inactive on Thursday. Sheard is not practicing at all right now, so it may be a while before he returns to the lineup.
Like Wendell before him, linebacker Rufus Johnson is suffering from an undisclosed illness. His only action of the season came in Week Two against the Buffalo Bills. The Patriots have pretty good depth at the linebacker position, so don't expect Johnson to get rushed onto the field once he recovers from his illness.
Full participation in practice:
Trey Flowers, defensive end (knee/shoulder)
Dont'a Hightower, linebacker (ribs)
Josh Kline, guard (shoulder)
Limited participation in practice:
Brandon Bolden, running back (hamstring)
Dion Lewis, running back (abdomen)
Keshawn Martin, wide receiver (hamstring)
Shaq Mason, guard (knee)
Did not participate in practice:
Marcus Cannon, tackle (toe)
Rufus Johnson, linebacker (illness)
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.