Show me an NFL team that makes it through a season without a player missing significant time due to injury, and I’ll show you a Madden season with the injury sliders turned off. That’s just not how football works.
Losing players like Tyquan Thornton and Ty Montgomery — the latter’s status is still TBD after an ankle injury suffered Friday — to preseason injuries seemingly stings worse, but it’s a reality you have to prepare for.
By all accounts, the Patriots have tried to stock the cupboard with as many solid, NFL-caliber players as it can to minimize drop-off under this exact situation.
When Montgomery went down due to injury during Friday’s preseason finale, Rhamondre Stevenson was still there to take on reps with the starters as Damien Harris took a seat for the night. Thornton’s absence still leaves a strong receiver group of DeVante Parker, Jakobi Meyers (who left Friday’s game with an apparently minor injury), Nelson Agholor, and Kendrick Bourne to take the lion’s share of snaps.
The Patriots don’t have any really elite players, but they plan on always have enough good ones to compete. Plus, many players projected to be on the roster can handle multiple positions, allowing Bill Belichick to mix and match without taking his best players off the field.
Still, that theory is being tested already in Foxborough after a rocky end to preseason.
The team has apparently discovered (at least in the short term) that it’s better with Isaiah Wynn than without him as neither of his top understudies — Justin Herron and Yodny Cajuste — have done enough to seize the job while he’s been in and out of the lineup. But Wynn, while solid, still isn’t great.
The offense might now be forced to keep running backs it didn’t intend to, like J.J. Taylor and/or rookie Kevin Harris, if Montgomery is out for an extended period. That could influence how they deploy Damien Harris and Stevenson. Again, both are good, not great, at this point in time, and the drop-off without Montgomery is steep.
What happens if either Hunter Henry or Jonnu Smith goes down? There isn’t much worth playing behind them, and it might limit how much the Patriots use “12” personnel with the two of them.
Thornton's injury already hurts the receiver room, robbing it of some much-needed speed. If Nelson Agholor were to miss time, that group would get very, very slow in a hurry.
Malcolm Butler and Terrance Mitchell were supposed to provide veteran stability and depth to the cornerback room. But Butler is no longer on the team, and Mitchell had a rough Friday. If Jonathan Jones or Jalen Mills has to miss a game, it could be Jack Jones time sooner than the Patriots want it to be.
A knick to Ja'Whaun Bentley or Raekwon McMillan could see Jahlani Tavai, who unfortunately just isn't that good, or one of the safeties playing more linebacker snaps.
Whatever the initial 53-man roster looks like on Tuesday, expect the Patriots to scour the waiver wire for bodies to add to the back of the roster or to the practice squad for later elevation. Snapping up a surprise cut or two might provide them with stronger depth than what they have right now.
This experiment they’re attempting with their roster for 2022 to seemingly keep the floor of the team as high as it can be depends on it. Of course, it's fair to wonder how much the baseline matters if the Patriots' ceiling continues to look as limited as it currently does.
