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Losing a depth piece in the backfield isn’t ideal timing for a team locked in a division fight, but New England had little choice with Terrell Jennings. The Patriots placed the running back on injured reserve after he suffered a concussion, sidelining him for at least the next four games.
He’d logged 73 rushing yards and a touchdown on 23 carries this season, a modest stat line but part of the rotation for an 11-2 team riding a 10-game winning streak into a huge AFC East showdown with the Buffalo Bills.
First-year head coach Mike Vrabel has New England pushing for the conference’s top seed, and every injury tweak matters at this stage.
To cover the loss, the Patriots turned to a familiar in-house option. Adam Schefter reported on X that New England has signed running back D’Ernest Johnson to the 53-man roster from the practice squad and officially moved Jennings to injured reserve.
That keeps the depth chart intact on paper as the Patriots prepare for Buffalo’s physical front and tighten up the game-day options behind their young quarterback.
Vrabel hasn’t spent much time playing into rivalry narratives, but he’s under no illusions about the task. He reminded reporters that Buffalo has owned the division in recent years and called the Bills a battle-tested group “used to winning,” emphasizing that New England will have to be at its absolute best to slow Josh Allen.
The plan, as he framed it, is about picking spots, tackling cleanly, and not letting Allen’s pump fakes or stiff-arms turn routine plays into explosives.
On the back end, cornerback Christian Gonzalez is embracing the assignment. He lit up when asked about facing Allen again, praising the quarterback’s MVP-level pedigree and deep playoff résumé while calling the matchup a “fun” challenge for a defense that ranks near the top of the league in both scoring and rushing yards allowed.
Between a reinforced backfield, a top-tier defense, and a statement game on deck, New England’s response to Jennings’ injury will say a lot about how real this 11-2 surge truly is.
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