New England Patriots - NESN.com
The New England Patriots are 11-2 heading into their bye week in Week 14, and they have had to weather a storm of injuries over the past few games. While the injury bug hasn’t led to this team’s ongoing win streak coming to an end yet, it could become an issue moving forward.
Two of the Pats’ most important players, defensive tackle Milton Williams and left tackle Will Campbell, find themselves on injured reserve currently, which has forced Mike Vrabel and the coaching staff to get creative when it comes to filling out the depth chart.
Beyond them, guys like Jared Wilson, Brenden Schooler and Khyiris Tonga have all missed time as well with their own injury issues. If you ask NFL insider Jeremy Fowler, he believes that these injuries could cause problems for New England moving forward, especially with a pair of difficult games on the horizon.
“The Patriots have injuries to two key players — defensive tackle Milton Williams (high ankle sprain) and rookie left tackle Will Campbell (knee sprain) — that loom large,” Fowler wrote for ESPN.
“Williams has validated his massive free agent contract with impressive play, and Campbell has ferociously protected Drake Maye’s blind side. Both should be back before the playoffs, but how New England holds up in the meantime bears watching.”
For all the complaints about New England’s “easy” schedule this season, it will partake in two of its most difficult games of the year when it returns to action in Week 15. First, a rematch with the Buffalo Bills looms, before the team will hit the road to take on the Baltimore Ravens in Week 16.
So while the injury bug hasn’t posed any problems for the Patriots yet, that could change moving forward. The team will surely be hoping the week off gives them some time to get healthy, because they will need all hands on deck for the final stretch of the regular season.
