New England Patriots: 3 players primed to fly high vs Falcons on TNF

2. Chase Winovich returns to the New England Patriots defense and makes an impact

Thursday night also marks the return of defensive end Chase Winovich who was activated from injured reserve on Wednesday.

In missing the last four games due to a hamstring injury, the man with the golden locks should be active for Thursday night’s game against the Falcons, especially with the team placing linebacker Josh Uche on injured reserve.

As he will be taking the place of Uche on the roster, Winovich will have an opportunity to make some plays against a stationary pocket quarterback like Matt Ryan, especially with Matt Judon rushing from the other side and Christian Barmore tearing things up in the middle.

Prior to the injury, Winovich was starting to make plays on defense. He has just seven tackles and a quarterback hit in six games played, but let’s not forget Wino led the team in sacks just a year ago and is just two seasons removed from a solid rookie season.

If the Patriots can take the Falcons’ run game away, Thursday night could be a 2021 coming out party for Winovich who has a knack for getting to the quarterback. Like Smith on the offensive side of the football, what a boost it will be if the New England Patriots defense start to get the Chase Winovich of 2019 who looked like the steal of that 2019 NFL Draft.