New England Patriots’ LT Nate Solder Out For Year With Torn Bicep

New England Patriots’ starting left tackle Nate Solder has reportedly torn his right bicep, and will miss the rest of the 2015 season because of it. Solder left last week’s game in Dallas with what was reported as an elbow injury, but evidently it turned out to be much more serious than many anticipated.

From Mike Reiss of ESPN Boston:

"New England Patriots starting left tackle Nate Solder will miss the remainder of the season with a torn right biceps, The Boston Globe reported Wednesday, citing a team source.Solder was injured late in the second quarter of Sunday’s 30-6 victory over the Dallas Cowboys, taking himself off the field after Tyrone Crawford registered an 8-yard sack of quarterback Tom Brady. Solder had jumped into the air after Crawford rushed past him, as his right arm appeared to be extended in a compromising position."

This obviously hurts the Pats, because Solder is a very good left tackle. But New England is well versed in dealing with adversity when it comes to big injuries, and with Bill Belichick at the helm, they will get through this incident. I think the two options they have in regards to replacing Solder will be to either move Sebastian Vollmer to left tackle and place Marcus Cannon at right tackle, or to keep Vollmer on the right side, and move Cannon to the left.

I think there are benefits to both moves, and I can’t really decide which one I want to see happen. Vollmer is not only New England’s best offensive lineman, but he is one of the best tackles the NFL has to offer. Using that logic, you might want your best tackle protecting the blindside of the franchise, not Cannon, who is just a capable backup. However on the other hand, we know Vollmer is dominant on the right side, and Cannon has had a good amount of his offensive snaps backing up Solder on the left side, so instead of moving two parts of your line, keep Vollmer on the right, and only change one.

No matter what they do, the Patriots aren’t going to be as good up front throughout the rest of the season without Solder. I think Cannon will fill in admirably, but Solder is a much better player than Cannon, and we will see that at times as the season progresses. Luckily for New England, they only face one team that really presents a huge problem on the edge, and that is Denver, who boasts arguably the best edge rushing duo in the league in Von Miller and DeMarcus Ware.

The main reason the Patriots will be fine is because of their quarterback, and the offensive system they have in place. It has always been Tom Brady’s forte to get rid of the football quickly, and that is no different this season. Brady gets the ball out so fast, opposing defenses just don’t have the chance to get their pass rush going before Brady has gotten the ball to one of his many playmakers down the field.

Adversity from injuries is a part of the NFL. The Patriots have gotten over it and won Super Bowls before, and they can do it again.

On a positive injury note: Dont’a Hightower was practicing today in full pads, which is great news after he left Sunday’s game with a rib injury. Hightower is probably the second most important player on this defense, and losing him would be an even bigger blow than losing Solder.