Throughout Bill Belichick's tenure with the Patriots, there were several years where a player was seemingly cut from the team before it was made official. It was often referred to as the "Foxboro flu" when it would happen before the season began, but it is something that has seemingly become a thing of the past, until now.
The possibility of the infamous illness potentially returning to the team has become a topic of discussion with the release of Friday's injury report, which already revealed two players will be out for Sunday's matchup against the Dolphins.
The continued absence of cornerback Christian Gonzalez was unfortunately expected, but the same status for Keion White was not, despite reportedly dealing with an illness that kept him away from practice all week.
Patriots Friday injury report and #NEvsMIA game statuses: https://t.co/eYRGEdqm4F pic.twitter.com/RgEFcfvgTV
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) September 12, 2025
Based on what we've seen from White in the months leading to the regular season and his limited usage against the Raiders last week, there's plenty of reason for fans to believe he could be the latest name to add to the list of those suffering from the Foxboro flu.
Speculation about Keion White being the latest to catch the Foxboro Flu picks up after being ruled out of Week 2
There was a lot of optimism that the arrival of an experienced coaching staff with a more traditional, tough-love approach to the game would be beneficial for a player like White, who was not a fan of the Jerod Mayo regime and made that apparent on numerous occasions.
It was clear he is the kind of player who prefers a more brutal style of coaching, which is certainly something Mike Vrabel brings to the table. So there was a lot of belief that we were about to see the best of White's career this season, only for that to quickly fall apart as the offseason went on.
He was slowly but surely moved down the depth chart and was eventually fighting to maintain his starting role on the defensive line. That appears to have vanished, as we saw last week against the Raiders, and since then, White has not been seen at practice.
It's possible this is in response to his official demotion last week, which saw him only on the field for 29 defensive snaps. Or there is, of course, a possibility that he is legitimately ill and unable to be with the team because of it.
We won't really know until after the upcoming contest with the Dolphins, and if White returns to practice immediately next week. But putting everything together that has happened to this moment, it seems fair to think something fishy might be going on behind the scenes, and White's future might be in jeopardy in New England.