The 2011 NFL regular season concludes on Sunday, New Year's Day, and locally, the Patriots (12-3) host the Buffalo Bills (6-9) at Gillette Stadium at 1 p.m.
Everybody knows the stakes for the Pats, win and they clinch home-field throughout the AFC playoffs. They've already won the AFC East title and clinched a first-round bye.
The injury reports for both teams came out this afternoon and Buffalo has already declared five players out for their season-finale. Tackle Demetrius Bell (knee), tight end Mike Caussin (knee), kicker Dave Rayner (groin), quarterback/kick returner Brad Smith (hamstring) and guard Kraig Urbik (knee) are all free to get loaded on New Year's Eve since all they'll be doing on Sunday is standing on the sideline in street clothes.
New England's banged up offensive line will be missing guard Logan Mankins (knee) and tackle Sebastian Vollmer (back), who were ruled out. Bill Belichick had fun with this injury report as 16 Patriots are questionable.
Kyle Arrington (foot), Deion Branch (groin), Patrick Chung (foot), Dan Connolly (groin), Julian Edelman (back), Dane Fletcher (thumb), James Ihedigbo (shoulder), Matt Light (ankle), Devin McCourty (shoulder), Rob Ninkovich (hip), Matthew Slater (shoulder), Brandon Spikes (knee), Shane Vereen (hamstring), Brian Waters (ankle), Wes Welker (knee) and Tracy White (abdomen) are all 50-50 against their AFC East rivals.
I say it every week but since the Pats are off next week when the playoffs begin, it would be very nice to see Chung and/or Spikes get back on the field. It'll also be interesting to see if Light can play since he was a last-minute scratch last weekend against Miami.
Welker was fined $10,000 by the NFL for wearing an unauthorized hat. It was for an energy bar company he promotes, not some Jesus freak stuff like Jon Kitna used to sport so that makes me rest easier. As he pointed out on Twitter, Welker had worn this hat all season but for whatever reason, the NFL decided to fine him now. Weird.
Stay tuned to see who else is out on Sunday.
UPDATE 1/1: Defensive back Malcolm Williams was added to the 53-man roster and defensive end Alex Silvestro was signed to the practice squad, taking Williams' spot. Ross Ventrone wasn't activated since it would have exhausted his practice squad eligibility for his career (really). Also, Williams playing means that special teams all-star White is probably out tomorrow.
The inactives for the Pats are Mankins, Vollmer, White, Faulk, Vereen, Ron Brace and Ryan Mallett. The inactives for the Bills are Smith, Nesbitt, Urbik, defensive lineman Jarron Gilbert, Bell, wide receiver Kamar Aiken and tight end Fendi Onobun.
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