Patriots Injury Report: Dont’a Hightower Re-Injures Knee, More

The Patriots came away with a win on Sunday, but the injuries continued to mount.

The New England Patriots were able to take care of a bad Tennessee Titans team rather easily on Sunday afternoon. While their performance left plenty to be desired, the Patriots were able to walk away with a 33-16 win over the Titans. The Patriots continue to sit in the driver’s seat in the AFC, and with the loss later in the day by the Denver Broncos, have clinched a first-round bye in the playoffs.

On paper, it was a great day for the Patriots. However, it is not all good news. Once again, the injury bug bit the Patriots pretty hard. First, it was wide receiver Danny Amendola who has been dealing with a knee injury in recent weeks.

Amendola has become an important player in the Patriots’ offense with Julian Edelman sidelined, but he suffered another knee injury in the second quarter against the Titans. Amendola immediately headed to the sidelines after a 22-yard punt return and never returned to the game. He was sent to the locker room, and while he returned to the sideline after halftime, he quickly went back to the locker room and never returned to the field.

Amendola injured his left knee just a few weeks back, but this time it looked like it was his right knee that was giving him issues. We do not have any information besides the Patriots calling it a knee injury, but it did not look like a great situation.

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In the third quarter, the Patriots lost arguably their most important defensive player when linebacker Dont’a Hightower left the game with a knee injury of his own. Hightower had missed the previous two games before this one with an MCL sprain in his left knee. Trainers were specifically shown looking at his left knee before Hightower went back to the locker room for more test.

He returned to the side lines later in the game. While he did not return to action, Hightower appeared to be in good spirits on the side line. We will wait to hear more before getting too excited, but I am optimistic that Hightower escaped seriously re-injuring his knee.

Last but not least, safety Patrick Chung took a helmet to his upper leg in the fourth quarter against the Titans. Chung was in obvious pain, but jumped to his feet and tried to jog off of the field. He clearly could move like he wanted, and moved to a slow-paced walk on the side line, before making his way to the locker room for further evaluation

Chung did not return to the game, and the team later announced that he had suffered a hip injury. Chung has been an important part of the Patriots’ defense this season. Hopefully this injury does not slow him up too much.

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With the Patriots in control for most of this game, it is difficult to react to the severity of these injuries. If the game were in question, would they have brought any of these guys back in? Perhaps, but considering they were in control of the lowly Titans for most of the game, it is impossible to know for sure.