New England Patriots: Damien Harris injury limits offense

Damien Harris could miss Week One and that could seriously impact the New England Patriots plans on offense.

Of course things have to get interesting for the New England Patriots before their first regular season game of the 2020 season. It seems as though New England will be without Damien Harris for Week One.

Harris has been having a great offseason. Those who have seen him at practice have even described him as New England’s top back.

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Making that type of impression ensured that Harris would see the field a lot more than he did in 2019. His rookie season he was basically redshirted. The Patriots failed to truly utilize him.

Now things aren’t looking so great. It appears that Harris has picked up an injury.

It doesn’t appear to just be a bump or a bruise either. His injury could have some future implications.

According to Adam Schefter, Harris is dealing with a hand injury that required surgery. It was later revealed to specifically be on Harris’ pinky.

#Patriots RB Damien Harris, who has missed the last two days of work, recently had surgery on his pinky finger, and it’ll take a few weeks to heal, source said. @MikeReiss first mentioned the hand injury, which means the potential key RB may miss the opener.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 3, 2020

This affects the Patriots offense a lot. With Sony Michel and Lamar Miller just starting to practice it seemed like Harris would get most of the carries. Now that doesn’t appear to be the case. The Patriots can’t rush these guys into things.

James White is used to catching the ball out of the backfield more often than rushing. With Harris out, he should see an uptick in carries.

Also, this move seems to ensure that Rex Burkhead has a spot on the roster. The veteran seemed to be on the bubble but he will also eat up some carries. It’s unlikely they will entrust their running game solely to undrafted free agent J.J. Taylor.

It also appeared that New England was going to have a much more balanced offense now that Tom Brady has departed. They would have to rely on Sony Michel to improve and gain yards on the ground.

Now it seems like New England will air the ball out. Cam Newton will entrust Julian Edelman and N’Keal Harry and if the play breaks down he can scramble and gain some yards.

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The Patriots have a deep group of running backs. The problem is that they are unable to stay healthy. It will be interesting to who New England rolls out now when Week One arrives.

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