New England Patriots Lose LB Jerod Mayo, RB Stevan Ridley For The Season

Well, it’s official.

After suffering serious knee injuries yesterday, linebacker Jerod Mayo and running back Stevan Ridley are both done for the remainder of the season.

From Lee Schechter of ESPN Boston:

"The New England Patriots on Monday ruled out linebacker Jerod Mayoand running back Stevan Ridley for Thursday night’s game against the New York Jets because of knee injuries, and sources said both players are out for the rest of the season.The Patriots have not commented on the extent of the injuries, but multiple sources told ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter that Mayo’s injury “is bad.” Also, a source told ESPNBoston.com’s Mike Reiss that Ridley tore an ACL and MCL. Both players were scheduled for MRIs on Monday."

Losing these two really hurts the Patriots, but the Mayo injury is the one that will make the biggest impact over the long-run. Ridley is great, but the Patriots can replace him. Along with Shane Vereen, they have James White, and Jonas Gray available, and between the three of them, I think they can replace Ridley’s production.

But there is no way they can replace Mayo. He is their leader on the defensive side, and his talents, and experience in the middle is invaluable. Look for the Pats to play rookie Deontae Skinner much more going forward, and after Thursday’s game against the Jets, they may sign a free agent to help ease the pain of this loss.

According to Field Yates, the Pats have already worked out five linebackers, which may signal New England is looking to sign someone shortly.

Another option for New England would be to run a 3-4 defense for the rest of the year, as that would allow them to use a better mix of players, while keeping Skinner, or whoever will replace Mayo’s position off the field longer than usual. Chandler Jones and Rob Ninkovich would man the outside linebackers spots, while Jamie Collins and Dont’a Hightower would play in the middle.

But make no mistake about it. This news sucks. Hopefully the Pats can rebound.