Drake Maye questionable; Ja'Lynn Polk among four Patriots ruled out for Week 18
FOXBORO -- The New England Patriots have listed rookie quarterback Drake Maye as questionable for Sunday's regular-season finale against the Buffalo Bills. Four others have already been ruled out for the contest at Gillette Stadium.
Maye was limited at practice all week with a right hand injury that he suffered during last Saturday's loss to the Los Angeles Chargers. But Patriots coaches have said that the injury hasn't affected the quarterback in practice, and have said that Maye will be the team's starting quarterback on Sunday.
The 3-13 Patriots can clinch the No. 1 overall pick with a loss to the Bills, so we'll see how long Maye plays if he does indeed start on Sunday. Maye is one of six players listed as questionable on Friday's injury report, along with safety Kyle Dugger, (ankle/quadricep), tight end Hunter Henry (foot), and linebackers Anfernee Jennings (knee), Titus Leo (ankle), and Sione Takitaki (knee).
That entire group was limited at Friday's practice outside of Takitaki, who missed the session after being limited on Wednesday and Thursday.
Ja'Lynn Polk's disappointing rookie season is over
The Patriots ruled out four players on Friday, including rookie receiver Ja'Lynn Polk. It brings an end to Polk's disappointing first season in the NFL, where the second-round pick caught just 12 passes for 87 yards and two touchdowns over 15 games.
In addition to Polk, center Ben Brown (concussion), cornerback Christian Gonzalez (concussion), and safety Jabrill Peppers (hamstring) were ruled out by New England on Friday.
Gonzalez suffered his concussion last weekend against the Chargers. Brown is now set to miss his second straight game, with Cole Strange in line to make his second straight start at center for New England.
Buffalo ruled out starting linebacker Terrel Bernard with a quadricep injury, while receiver Curtis Samuel is questionable after being limited all week with a rib injury.
Tune in to Sunday's Patriots-Bills clash on WBZ-TV -- the television home of the New England Patriots. Pregame coverage begins Sunday morning at 11:30 a.m. with Patriots GameDay on WBZ-TV and streaming on CBSBoston.com, and switch over to TV38 after the game for full reaction and analysis on Patriots 5th Quarter.
