New England Patriots - NESN.com
The New England Patriots are fresh off a blowout victory in Week 4 over the Carolina Panthers, but they need to quickly turn their attention to Week 5, as they have a massive matchup against the undefeated Buffalo Bills on their hands.
There have been a lot of positives for the Pats through four games, and while they aren’t a perfect team, it’s clear that they are on the right path forward. Their clash with the Bills figures to provide them with a good opportunity to give one of the top teams in the league their best punch.
In order to do that, it’s going to be important for New England to have its best players available. However, according to the team’s latest injury report, the Patriots may want to begin preparing to be without two of their defensive starters.
At Wednesday’s practice, both linebacker K’Lavon Chaisson and safety Jaylinn Hawkins did not practice, which is an immediate sign of concern for New England. While they both have two days to get back on the practice field, their statuses for Week 5 have been thrown up in the air.
Elsewhere on the injury report, star defensive tackles Christian Barmore and Milton Williams were both limited, while starting left guard Jared Wilson returned to practice in a limited capacity after not practicing at all last week. Star cornerback Christian Gonzalez is also not on the injury report after making his season debut in Week 4.
Chaisson did not practice on Wednesday last week before returning on Thursday and Friday, and he ended up being able to play against the Panthers. Hawkins left the team’s Week 4 win early with a hamstring injury and didn’t end up returning, which initially indicated that his status for Week 5 could be up in the air.
The Patriots’ coaching staff may simply be playing things safe with these guys, but it will be worth keeping tabs on them over the next few days to see if they can get back on the practice field. New England will square off against Buffalo on Sunday Night Football in Week 5, with kickoff being scheduled for 8:20 p.m. ET.
