Pats Pulpit
The New England Patriots’ return to the win column on Sunday was an impressive one. Going against a Carolina Panthers team they shared identical 1-2 records with, the Patriots put forward a dominant effort en route to a 42-13 victory.
There was a lot to like from the game, but the win might have come at a cost: starting safety Jaylinn Hawkins was unable to finish the contest after suffering an injury in the second quarter. Let’s assess the damage after re-watching the game.
CB Charles Woods: Being on the field for punt returner Marcus Jones’ 87-yard touchdown in the first quarter, Woods fell victim to some friendly fire from teammate Milton Williams. The 5-foot-11, 185-pound cornerback collided with the 6-foot-3, 290-pound defensive tackle, who later admitted he was “trying to get the punter. I was tired, I was just hitting somebody.” Woods remained down for a bit but was back on the field for the next punt, and even ended the game playing a career-high 21 defensive snaps.
CB Carlton Davis III: The Patriots’ CB2 remained down after being around the ball and coming down hard on a near-interception by Craig Woodson in the early second quarter. He walked off the field under his own power with members of the training staff by his side and headed into the blue medical tent for a checkup, but returned to the sideline shortly thereafter. Davis was back on the field at the next possible opportunity without having missed any defensive snaps.
RB Antonio Gibson: With 21 seconds left in the first half and the offense backed up at its own 4-yard line, Gibson took a handoff, was quickly met by linebacker Trevin Wallace, and afterwards left the field for the medical tent. He was seen limping a bit, but only ended up missing one offensive snap. The opening kickoff of the second half already saw him take his typical spot as one of New England’s returners.
S Jaylinn Hawkins: Starting safety Jaylinn Hawkins was announced as questionable to return to the game with a hamstring injury in the early fourth quarter, but by that time had already been missing the last two defensive drives. What had happened? On the first play of Carolina’s last extended possession of the first half — with 1:50 to go in Quarter 2 — he came up limping after quickly transitioning from a back-pedal to a forward sprint on a run play. Hawkins did remain in for the rest of that six-play series and also took the field for the potential Hail Mary with 2 seconds remaining in the half, but showed signs of discomfort along the way and seemingly favored his left leg. He did not return to the field after intermission.
The big name out of the four banged-up players is Jaylinn Hawkins. One of the Patriots’ starting safeties and somebody who had been on the field for 173 of 174...
