Pats Pulpit
Notes and thoughts on an underdiscussed part of the Patriots’ season outlook, TreVeyon Henderson’s contract situation, and more.
The New England Patriots are slowly but steadily getting ready for their 2025 training camp. But while it is right around the corner, we still remain in the slow period for the time being.
Accordingly, this week’s Sunday Patriots Notes are once again a bit on the shorter side. That doesn’t mean there is nothing to talk about from the week that was, so please strap in and enjoy.
Depending on the source and methodology used, you can find the Patriots listed either among the most injured and least injured teams in the NFL in 2024. Frankly, there is some truth to both.
The Patriots, for example, were not in the same league as the Detroit Lions when it comes to volume of players on injured reserve or combined games missed. Whereas the NFC champions ended the year with 16 players on IR (plus one on the NFI list) as well as a combined 254 games missed due to injury, New England stood at 11 on IR (plus one on NFI) as well as 161 games missed
Where the Patriots were hit disproportionally hard was the quality of players bitten by the injury bug. Center David Andrews and linebacker Ja’Whaun Bentley were among the headline names, missing a majority of the season due to their respective shoulder and pectoral injuries. While theirs were long-term ailments (that ultimately contributed to both getting released this offseason), they were not the only core players banged up.
Multiple starters or would-be starters missed parts of the season with injury, including Christian Barmore, Kendrick Bourne, Kyle Dugger, Hunter Henry, Christian Gonzalez, Marcus Jones, Vederian Lowe, Jabrill Peppers, Sidy Sow, Cole Strange and Deatrich Wise Jr. Even quarterback Drake Maye missed snaps in two games because of concussion concerns.
The main problem with all those injuries, apart from the personal impact they can have on players’ careers, was the fact that the Patriots were not equipped to handle them in 2024. Top to bottom, they were one of the least talented teams in football last season, and injuries to starter-caliber players proved devastating.
Heading into 2025, better team health will therefore be a seemingly obvious but oftentimes underdiscussed key to New England’s success. The Patriots, however, are not leaving their fate in this area up to chance.
For starters, they made an effort to address their depth across the board in both free agency and the draft. And while that process still left some areas thinner than others, the roster as a whole appears to be better suited to absorb injury hits — both from and on- and an off-field perspective.
In addition, the Patriots restructured their strength and conditioning staff. While Deron Mayo and Brian McDonough are holdovers from 2024, the team also added Frank Piraino to oversee the operation in his role as director of sports...
