New England Patriots training camp: injuries mount up
New England Patriots training camp is well underway. After five practices, the injury count is a bit eye opening.
Here is the list of absentees from practice yesterday, according to Mark Daniels of the Providence Journal:
"The Patriots had a lengthy list of absent players that included Matt Flynn, Matt Slater, Brandon LaFell, Tyler Gaffney, Chris White, Dane Fletcher, Marcus Cannon, Ryan Wendell, Caylin Hauptmann, Joe Vellano, A.J. Derby, Chris Jones and Alan Branch."
Recent additions to the absentee list on Tuesday were Cannon and Vellano. Vellano left Sunday’s practice early, so it’s not too surprising to see him held out. As for Cannon, the more time he misses, the more likely it is that Cameron Fleming could replace him on the depth chart.
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In addition to those players, the Patriots had two wide receivers leave practice early because of injury: Julian Edelman and Brian Tyms.
On Sunday, I noticed that several reporters in attendance were tweeting about an Edelman injury scare. While he gave it a go on Tuesday, Edelman’s ankle is still an issue, as he left after warmups for the injury bubble.
As for Tyms, he appeared to hurt his right arm during a one-on-one tackle drill against cornerback Robert McClain. It was a scary moment, as he lay on the ground for a period of time before being carted off.
Keep in mind that a heap of injuries early in training camp is par for the course. There’s no need to be overly concerned about the growing injury report—not yet, at least. The most worrying injury is Edelman’s ankle, as he is one of the more irreplaceable players on the Patriots’ roster (although Danny Amendola did stand out on Tuesday while Edelman was out).
It’s better for players to get nicked up in early August so they can prepare their bodies for the grind of September and the following months.