The New England Patriots have a running back problem after Terrell Jennings left the team's 28-23 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with a knee injury. Jennings said Monday (h/t @IanSteeleWMUR) that he's "Just trying to get back right so I'll be able to be on the field with my brothers."
Head coach Mike Vrabel didn't reveal much to reporters on Monday either.
“Terrell’s being evaluated, and we’ll see where he is," Vrabel said, via WEEI's Tom Carroll. "Again, today’s a walk-thru, we’ll try to do our best with the injury report. We’ll see what he’s able to do. I would say the same for all those guys that weren’t available for the game yesterday."
Jennings' injury was an unwelcome surprise with the Patriots' RB room already being shorthanded. RB1 Rhamondre Stevenson missed Sunday's victory due to a toe injury, and the short turnaround between now and the Thursday Night Football clash with the New York Jets could lead to another absence.
In other words, the Patriots' RB room needs a prayer, which a certain under-the-radar runner might be able to answer it.
Rushawn Baker's Time in Patriots' RB Room is Now
Backfield-related injuries are exactly why running back Rushawn Baker was signed to the practice squad to close out October. He hasn't played yet, so there's a chance that fans have completely forgotten about him. The former Elon playmaker likely didn't expect an opportunity to arise this quickly, but that's what happens when injuries mount in the second half of an NFL season.
While a free-agent signing might be something Patriots fans hope to see, that might not be the wisest decision before TNF. Any signing will take some time to get used to how Vrabel runs things, whereas Baker has been on the practice squad for two weeks since being signed. There's a good chance that he already knows more of the playbook than what a free agent could learn in a few days, making him the likely RB3 behind TreVeyon Henderson and D'Ernest Johnson.
Henderson did enough heavy lifting to defeat Tampa Bay, rushing for 147 yards and finding the end zone twice, but this isn't a sustainable offensive model for New England. He's now played 51 snaps in back-to-back games, which is a bigger number than Stevenson has seen at any point this season. If the Pats want to avoid also running their rookie RB into the ground, another set of legs is needed.
Promoting Baker would be a dice roll, but it's all Vrabel and Co. on such short notice. Besides, they already have a practice squad success story this season, as Jennings began the year with the unit before eventually being promoted to the active roster.
Hopefully, Baker will have similar success if he's throw into the spotlight this week.