Patriots: Injuries Continue to Mount in Win over Texans
The Injuries continued to be an issue for the New England Patriots in a big win over the Houston Texans.
The New England Patriots came into Houston and took care of business on Sunday night. Led by a strong defensive performance and a returning Rob Gronkowski, the Patriots controlled the game throughout, coming away with a 27-6 victory over the Texans.
It was great to see the Patriots get back in the win column after back-to-back losses, and they looked great doing so. That being said, as it has been all season, the Patriots continued to deal with injuries on Sunday night.
They were actually as close to full strength as they had been in a while entering the game. Sure linebacker Dont’a Hightower continued to miss, Josh Kline sat out with a shoulder injury and Julian Edelman is still probably a week or two away, but all the other injured Patriots suited up, including Gronkowski, which was a beautiful site to see.
Linebacker Jonathan Freeny left early in the game with a hand injury, and he never returned. Freeny had been getting exploited in the passing game in recent weeks, but with Hightower continuing to miss time, he had become a high-volume player. Jerod Mayo and even Jonathan Bostic saw more time at linebacker without Freeny.
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Next was running back LeGarrette Blount. After a slow start, Blount started to get rolling before going down with a hip injury in the second quarter. Blount never returned to the game, and finished with 53 rushing yards on 10 carries. He is the Patriots’ power back, and they will need him in the line-up down the stretch.
After an early sack, Patriots defensive tackle Dominique Easley went down with a quad injury in the third quarter. It looked like a bad knee injury when it happened, but Easley was moving around well on the sideline after the injury. It did not appear to be serious, which is good because Easley is probably the Patriots’ best interior pass rusher.
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The most important and scariest injury on the night is from safety Devin McCourty, who injured his ankle on a muffed punt by the Patriots’ Keshawn Martin in the third quarter. McCourty was walking around gingerly, and immediately went to the Patriots’ locker room. He did not return to the game.
McCourty is arguably the most important player on the Patriots’ defense. He is not only one of the best coverage safeties in the NFL, McCourty is one of the clear leaders of the Patriots’ defense. We should know more on the McCourty injury in the coming days, but hopefully it is not too bad. The Patriots cannot afford to lose him for a lengthy period of time.
Fellow safety Patrick Chung also left the game in the third quarter, but he quickly got back in there and looked fine.
Next: Julian Edelman to Return Sooner than Expected?
We will keep an eye on the injury report this week. Most of these guys look to be okay, with the McCourty ankle injury being the biggest question mark. Hopefully, we will hear positive news soon. Stay tuned.