Updated Patriots injury report for Week 5 is getting concerningly long
As if the Patriots didn't already have enough stress to deal with heading into their first matchup of the season against the Dolphins in Week 5, the injuries continue to pile up, making their goal of sneaking another win much more difficult.
It was bad enough that earlier this week, the news of David Andrews needing to undergo season-ending shoulder surgery was announced, ending his 2024 season already, but seeing the latest update to their injury report on Thursday get longer just made the pessimism about Sunday's game a bit harder to shake.
The players who did not participate in practice earlier this week remained the same, as expected, and rookie tight end Jaheim Bell's move from limited to full participant was good to see.
But the addition of cornerback Marcus Jones with a new groin injury is hard to ignore, on top of the continued injuries to nearly all of the offensive linemen.
DID NOT PARTICIPATE | LIMITED PARTICIPATION | FULL PARTICIPATION |
|---|---|---|
C David Andrews (shoulder) | WR Kendrick Bourne (knee) | TE Jaheim Bell (neck) |
S Kyle Dugger (ankle) | LB Anfernee Jennings (shoulder) | |
WR K.J. Osborn (shoulder) | CB Jonathan Jones (shoulder) | |
T Caedan Wallace (ankle) | CB Marcus Jones (groin) | |
G Michael Jordan (ankle) | ||
C Nick Leverett (ankle) | ||
T Vederian Lowe (knee) | ||
S Marte Mapu (calf) | ||
S Jabrill Peppers (shoulder) | ||
G Layden Robinson (ankle/wrist) | ||
LB Sione Takitaki (knee) |
The only hope for the game ahead is that most of those who have been limited thus far will become more active in the next two days before the game. It's great that they're able to stay in Foxboro instead of having to travel to another away game.
Given the names on the list, there's not much else to feel optimistic about, even if this feels like a winnable game. They may fare better than expected since the Dolphins are dealing with their own issues, which were on full display in their embarrassing Monday Night Football performance earlier this week.
It would be quite a morale boost if they could do enough to win a divisional game after three straight losses, two of which were blowouts, and shake up the division even more. But it will likely hinge on the health of the roster, which isn't looking too good right now.
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