PATRIOTS FORMER LB PLAYER HAS RETURNED AGAIN F…

The Patriots have downgraded both TE Hunter Henry and OT Conor McDermott to out for Sunday’s game against the Broncos.

The Patriots have ruled out two key players for their journey to Denver on Christmas Eve in preparation for their Sunday night game at Mile High against the Broncos.
The Patriots demoted TE Hunter Henry (knee) and OT Conor McDermott (concussion) to out for their Week 16 matchup after declaring out three players previously. In addition to RB Rhamondre Stevenson (ankle), S Jabrill Peppers (hamstring), and WR JuJu Smith-Schuster (ankle) on Friday’s final injury report, Henry and McDermott bring the number of New England players who have already been ruled out to five.

First, the team’s top tight end, Henry, will miss his first game as a Patriot after being forced out of last week’s game against the Chiefs early in the fourth quarter due to a heavy hit to the knee from Chiefs CB L’Jarius Sneed. At first, it appeared as though Henry—who was officially classified as dubious—would attempt it. The veteran tight end appeared to be monitoring Thursday’s practice and was only slightly involved on Friday, suggesting that Henry was testing his ailing knee during the week and that his ailment wasn’t a permanent one. However, second-year quarterback Bailey Zappe will not have access to his safety blanket.

The Patriots will depend on tight ends Mike Gesicki and Pharaoh Brown as they are without their top receiver in receptions (42) and receiving touchdowns (six). This season, Bill O’Brien, the offensive coordinator for the Patriots, has only employed his two healthy tight ends in very limited circumstances. Brown has mostly played the role of an in-line tight end alongside Henry, blocking plays early in the down. Conversely, Gesicki has played 246 snaps—80.9% of which have come as a detached receiver—mostly in the slot. It would seem reasonable to assume that Brown would take over as the conventional “Y” tight end and Gesicki would stick to his job as a jumbo-slot receiver.

The Patriots’ wide receiver possibilities include DeVante Parker, Demario Douglas, Tyquan Thornton, Jalen Reagor, and Kayshon Boutte in addition to Brown and Gesicki at tight end. The Pats will probably have JaMychal Hasty, Kevin Harris, and Ezekiel Elliott active in the backfield.

After disqualifying McDermott, the Patriots may have yet another starting offensive line combo. After leaving last week’s game against the Chiefs at the conclusion of the third quarter, the backup tackle did not come back. Given that most players who have concussions miss at least the following game, it is not shocking that McDermott was unable to clear the concussion protocol in time to play in Denver. The question at hand is whether the Patriots’ starting left tackle Trent Brown (ankle/hand) will be available in McDermott’s absence and whether he can play the entire game. Brown did travel to Denver on Saturday along with the rest of the team.

Brown missed last week’s game because of a hand, ankle, and illness. The massive left tackle wasn’t well enough to play all the snaps even though he participated in the last three games. Rather, Brown and McDermott rotated, with Brown playing 59.6% of the snaps for the Steelers, 67.2% for the Chargers, and 76.5% for the Giants in Weeks 12-14. Brown last participated in every offensive play during Week 8 in Miami.

Vederian Lowe, a fourth-string offensive lineman, will represent New England if the Pats’ starting left tackle is unable to play or needs to be controlled. Despite playing only the last 13 snaps against the Chiefs, Lowe looked considerably better on tape than he had in his prior games. Despite the small sample size, Lowe allowed no QB pressure over eight pass-blocking snaps. Even yet, you have concerns about Lowe’s durability at left tackle in the face of increased exposure. The kind of speed rushers that have previously caused Lowe issues are Broncos edge rushers Nik Bonitio (eight sacks, 44 pressures) and Baron Browning (four sacks, 26 pressures). Additionally, under DC, the Broncos have the seventh-highest blitz rate in the whole league. Joseph Vance

The starting LG for New England’s offensive line will also be absent. Cole Strange, who suffered a knee injury in Week 15 and was placed on injured reserve this week. This is how the Patriots’ starting offensive line is expected to look: LT Trent Brown/Lincoln Vederian Lowe RT Mike Onwenu, RG Sidy Sow, C David Andrews, and Atonio Mafi are a group that hasn’t played a lot of football together.

The Patriots’ options for standard raises from the practice squad are less than in previous weeks following the addition of second-year RB Kevin Harris to the active roster. But with Henry down, practice squad tight end Matt Sokol is a serious contender. The Patriots might potentially activate offensive tackle Tyrone Wheatley from injured reserve because they only have three healthy offensive tackles. Practice squad activations and altitudes must be completed by 4 p.m. ET on the deadline. If there are any roster changes by the Pats, we’ll update this post accordingly.