FOXBOROUGH -- When the cart was called for James White quickly after trainers attended to him on the Saints sideline early in the second quarter, everyone could tell it was a serious injury.
Virtually the entire Patriots team, including coaches, went over to show their support for White. The running back was immediately ruled out with a hip injury, which is never a good sign.
The Patriots offense struggled without White and speaking after the game, it's clear how much he's respected in the locker room.
Here's what his teammates had to say.
David Andrews: “James is a great player, but he’s a better teammate. Hope for the best for him and will try to connect with him. ... It’s a tough part of this game. And like I said, you don’t really know what happened, but it’s just, you hate it. For a guy like that who really does give his all for this team day in and day out, the world could use some more James Whites.”
Mac Jones: “I think James is a great player, but he's also a good person. He does everything right all the time. It seems like he just goes about his business. He comes into work every day. It's not like he's cutting any corners short because he's an older player and knows it all. He continues to work. That definitely sucked to see him go down. We're all behind him 100 percent, and he's a team leader, and he's a great team leader, and he's a great Patriot. We all want to be, if we can, like James. He's a big role model for me. I hope he's okay, and thoughts and prayers to him and his family.”
Devin McCourty: “He’s a multi-time captain, really a huge leader on the team. I think any time a cart comes out you kind of know it’s serious. So, it’s just tough. It’s tough anytime you watch one of your main guys, one of your leaders, flag bearers as we kind of say in the sport, go down. It’s tough. But he’s a tough guy. He’s resilient. He’ll bounce back. But I always think about the guy. All the work we put in, to go down, it’s just tough to see, man. I’ll be praying for James.”
Jakobi Meyers: “It is going to hurt, because he is a great guy on the field and off the field and a lot of guys look up to James White. I know I do. So just seeing him laying down there and seeing him get put on the cart, it kind of makes your heart jump a little bit to your stomach. I mean we know we have to keep playing but losing someone like James White definitely hurt a little bit."
Brandon Bolden: “Same feelings when anybody get hurt, but when it's one of the guys you run with, one of the guys who you train with, one of the guys that you bleed and sweat with, it kind of hits a little different, so prayers to him and hope he gets through it.”
Kendrick Bourne: “I have always been a fan of him from just watching football throughout my life. I’ve seen James since I was young and then meeting him in person, it was like, 'Wow he is who he looks like on TV.' So, to lose him is crucial, he is a very important guy on third down – really on all downs but especially on third downs. He is a problem for defenses and they have to watch him. We have some other guys who can help take his place so we can hold it down until he gets back but praying for him.”
