Pats Pulpit
A day after defeating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the New England Patriots began New York Jets week with a walkthrough.
But had the AFC East leaders held a regular practice, Austin Hooper would have been the lone non-participant. The veteran tight end has entered the NFL’s concussion protocol, while 14 teammates carry limited projections.
Here’s the estimated injury report as Thursday’s 8:15 p.m. ET kickoff at Gillette Stadium nears.
Hooper started and stayed in for 34 out of 61 offensive snaps on Sunday afternoon. He has caught 13 passes for 174 yards and one touchdown on the campaign. But on a short week, the March re-signing’s availability is in doubt while working through the league’s phases. On the other side of the divisional matchup, the Jets will be without a three-time 1,000-yard wide receiver for multiple weeks due to a knee sprain, per ESPN’s Rich Cimini.
Three starters had been ruled out leading up to the Tampa trip. The inactives again included Stevenson due to a toe injury, plus Boutte due to a hamstring injury and Elliss due to a hip injury. But the running back, wide receiver and linebacker would have joined the long line of partial participants on Monday. New England’s ground game was subject to further attrition at Raymond James Stadium. At one point, veteran D’Ernest Johnson, a back-to-back standard elevation from the practice squad, was the lone available rusher as those ahead of him on the depth chart dealt with knee issues. The defensive side of the ball was also hit at all three levels during what became a 28-23 win.
No Patriots managing ailments would have practiced in full to begin Jets prep.
“Running around here telling everybody it’s Thursday,” head coach Mike Vrabel said during his Monday press conference. “That’s about it. That’s about all you can do. I’ve tried to do that to the best of my ability so far today. Just try to get physically recovered the best that we can. Tough game on the road, so we’ll try to do that and just keep reminding everybody it’s Thursday.”
