After playing football on 13 straight weekends, the New England Patriots are finally heading into their bye week. For a team that has battled through its fair share of adversity of both a physical and mental nature, it is coming at an opportune time as well: several starters were banged up in Sunday’s loss to the Indianapolis Colts.
With that being said, let’s assess the damage after re-watching the game.
Patriots injury analysis: Week 14
TE Hunter Henry: New England’s top tight end absorbed a blow to the head in the late first quarter (3:07) that forced him to exit the contest. Even though he had to miss a handful of plays as a result, he eventually made his way back with 8:31 to play in the second period. He ended up catching four more passes from that point on, and finished the game having played 56 of a possible 72 offensive snaps.
ED Anfernee Jennings: Jennings had entered the game dealing with a knee injury, but it was his upper body that was hurt with 8:36 to go in the fourth quarter. He was slow to get up after a bang-bang collision on a run play, and headed straight to the medical tent. However, he only ended up missing one play — Christian Gonzalez’s interception — before a return for the final drive of the day.
CB Christian Gonzalez: Gonzalez had his left arm assessed after picking off Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson in the fourth period. He did not miss any playing time, though, and did not show any signs of discomfort on the final drive of the day; in fact, he registered a pair of tackles during the series.
S Jabrill Peppers: After making a tackle against Richardson near the goal line with 24 seconds to go, Peppers had to be helped up by his teammates. However, he stayed on the field for the final three snaps of the day.
What this means for the Patriots
Excluding offensive lineman Cole Strange, who remains on the physically unable to perform list, the Patriots entered Week 13 with nine players on their injury report. While only one of those — defensive tackle Jaquelin Roy (neck) — was deactivated against the Colts, the team already had to nurse its fair share of bumps and bruises before Sunday.
Now, up to four starters can be added to those who were banged up. Of course, all four of Hunter Henry, Anfernee Jennings, Christian Gonzalez and Jabrill Peppers were able to finish the game without showing any obvious limitations, but they like the rest of the team will still welcome a chance to finally get some rest.
Before the bye week, however, the Patriots will return to the practice fields one more time: they will hold their lone session of the week on Tuesday at 11:55 a.m. ET. Pats Pulpit’s Brian Hines will be at Gillette Stadium for updates, including who may or may not be present.