New England Patriots: WR Malcolm Mitchell Reportedly Won’t Play vs. Texans
The New England Patriots are going into their Divisional Round game against the Texans relatively healthy, but they will be without one of their up and coming star receivers for the Saturday night tilt.
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ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported earlier this morning that Patriots rookie WR Malcolm Mitchell will not play, as he has been limited in practice all week with a knee injury.Mitchell suffered the injury in the team’s Week 16 contest against the New York Jets and he was also inactive for the Patriots final game in Miami two week ago.
New England was hopeful that Mitchell would be able to pull through his ailment, but with the recent additions of Michael Floyd and the return of Danny Amendola, New England can afford to go at least this week without him.
Patriots WR Malcom Mitchell, listed as questionable for tonight's Divisional Playoff with knee injury, will not play vs Texans, per source.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 14, 2017
With their additions to the roster, the Patriots will go into the contest with four total active receivers, including Julian Edelman and Chris Hogan.
Mitchell has been a steady presence in the Patriots offense as of late. The fourth round pick in this year’s draft has totaled 32 receptions for 401 yards and 4 TDs, with the majority of it coming since quarterback Tom Brady returned from his four game suspension in Week 5. As Mike Reiss of ESPN noted, Mitchell averaged 45.7 percent of the offensive snaps per game in the final half of the season after averaging 21.5 offensive snaps per game through the first half. Brady’s presence in the lineup no doubt helped those averages increase.
With Mitchell out, expect Brady to target Floyd more prominently out of the left slot, where Mitchell has spent most of the season. Floyd gives the Patriots a physical presence inside which should able to able to take advantage of the Texans weakened sub packages.
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New England faces the Houston Texas at 8:15 EST at Gillette Stadium Saturday night with the winner earning the right to advance to the AFC Championship game next Sunday afternoon against either the Kansas City Chiefs or Pittsburgh Steelers.