6 rings: Assessing the Patriots’ offensive line following Wednesday’s injury report
Offensive line was considered one of the main problems the Patriots needed to solve this offseason following a disappointing 2022.
Instead of dolling out top-tier money to a franchise-changing tackle, however, they settled for a few cheaper signings to try and continue their patchwork operation from a year ago.
It’s only Week 2, and that strategy is already catching up to them. Here’s a look at Wednesday’s injury report:
DID NOT PARTICIPATE:
OT Trent Brown - concussion
OL Sidy Sow - concussion
LIMITED PARTICIPATION:
David Andrews - hamstring
Mike Onwenu - knee
Cole Strange - knee
The Patriots started a line of LT Trent Brown, LG Atonio Mafi, C David Andrews, RG Sidy Sow, and RT Calvin Anderson on Sunday against the Eagles, and three of them were injured in the contest. Onwenu and Strange weren’t even active for the game due to their nagging injuries.
On top of all of this, Riley Reiff is on injured reserve for the first four games of the season and Calvin Anderson, while healthy, missed the entirety of the summer while on the non-football illness list.
There is a glimmer of hope out there though. Nine-year veteran offensive tackle La’el Collins was released by the Bengals on Tuesday and the Patriots reportedly have an interest in him:
“According to a league source,” Daniels wrote on Wednesday, “the Patriots have shown interest in Collins. However, at this time, the team’s level of interest is considered due diligence, according to a second source.”
Collins played with the Cowboys from 2015-2021 and has started 86 games in his career. Now 30, the tackle tore his ACL and MCL last season while with the Bengals and has been on Cincinnati’s PUP list to begin the season.
Whether New England will ultimately close a deal remains to be seen. They already traded for tackles Tyrone Wheatley Jr. and Vederian Lowe prior to the regular season but with three more players banged up, you have to wonder if another move is imminent.
Make sure to follow Mike on Twitter @mikekadlick, and follow @WEEI for the latest up-to-date Patriots and Boston sports news!
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