Pats Pulpit
Analyzing the Patriots’ injury situation after their 28-22 loss to the Rams in Week 11.
The New England Patriots made a series of roster moves on Tuesday, and one of them is directly tied to an injury suffered during Sunday’s 28-22 loss to the Los Angeles Rams: linebacker and special teamer Curtis Jacobs was placed on injured reserve after leaving the contest with a head injury.
With Jacobs as the biggest loss, let’s assess the damage they suffered versus the Rams after re-watching the contest.
CB Marcus Jones: Jones was banged up with 3:05 to go in the first quarter, after tripping over teammate Kyle Dugger on an incomplete pass. While he did miss a handful of snaps, including one punt return, he was back on the field in the early second period without any injury having been announced.
LB/ST Curtis Jacobs: The undrafted rookie remained on the ground face-down after a kickoff return with 7 minutes left in the third quarter. Jacobs was serving on the coverage team and had tried to reach-tackle the returner; he missed and spun to the ground at full speed. He eventually got back up, but had to be helped off the field and into the blue medical tent. He was ruled out shortly thereafter, and as noted above has since been moved to IR.
LG Michael Jordan: The Patriots’ ill-fated extra point attempt after Vederian Lowe’s touchdown catch did not just end with zero points on the board, but also with a pair of players banged up. The first and more serious-looking issue — at least initially — was left guard Michael Jordan remaining on the ground after an attempted tackle. He actually had to miss the next three offensive snaps before returning with 9:34 left in the game.
TE Austin Hooper: Hooper also appeared to be feeling some discomfort after helping make the tackle on the blocked extra point. However, he too returned to the field later in the fourth quarter and also caught a 9-yard pass on the next series.
DT Daniel Ekuale: Ekuale was slow to get up after assisting on a run tackle with 12:38 to go in the fourth quarter. However, he eventually jogged off the field under his own power and was back on the field later that period.
Outside of losing Curtis Jacobs, the Patriots appear to be in solid shape heading into Week 12. The other four players getting banged up all appear to have avoided major injury given that they were back in action shortly thereafter.
Of course, the Jacob injury is still significant given his role on special teams. The rookie linebacker, after all, had developed into a four-unit player and been on the field for just under 48 percent of kicking game snaps on the season — seventh on the team. With him now out for at least four weeks, the team will have to find somebody else to step up...
