Just When You Think The Patriots Can't Suffer Another Devastating Injury, They Do

I can't remember the Patriots ever getting bombarded with so many serious injuries-to key players no less-this early in the regular season. That troubling trend continued tonight as reports surfaced on Twitter that linebacker and defensive captain Jerod Mayo had surgery on a torn pectoral muscle so he's not expected to play for the rest of the season. Ah! It happened last in Sunday's improbable win against the Saints and comes only a few days before they face the Jets (3-3) on Sunday (1, CBS) in New Jersey.

This is absurd, it's fruitless to whine about injuries since every team in the NFL gets them but are you kidding me right now? After only six games, the Patriots have lost Shane Vereen, Danny Amendola (multiple times), Matthew Slater, Vince Wilfork, Tommy Kelly and now Mayo. Oh and Rob Gronkowski has been the most talked about player in the NFL (or so it seems around here) the last few weeks but he has yet to step foot in an actual game. Ugh.

New England (5-1) has been able to survive this raft of injuries so far but at some point, this will all eventually catch up with them. Nobody has the type of depth to withstand losing all these vital players for significant periods of time. Replacing Mayo (55 tackles, 1.5 sacks, 1 pass deflected) with Dont'a Hightower is OK if not ideal. When you start talking about untested rookie Jamie Collins or special teams hero Dane Fletcher stepping in for the two-time Pro Bowl and 2010 All-Pro, well then you have a problem.

If nothing else, this unfortunately will prove to us one way or another if Mayo was overrated or not. Many people maintain that he piles up inflated statistics but never really makes game-changing plays. I'm not firmly in that camp but I will say that if you're looking for a big play linebacker, Mayo isn't necessarily your first or second option in the NFL. Still, I think we can all agree that he's a very effective player and a guy that has fit in with the Pats seamlessly from day one.

PS how miserable must it be to cover the Pats? Anytime there is a big story like this, it is broken by a national outlet (in this case Yahoo). You spend all that time covering the team but you can't build any good sources so in turn you get scooped every time for the most important stuff that people want to know. Yikes. I'll stick to just blogging about the Patriots thank you very much, no wonder why a majority of their beat writers are so beaten down.

UPDATE 10/16: The Pats publically acknowledged Mayo's injury today, putting him on season-ending IR and re-signing defensive tackle Andre Neblett.

UPDATE 10/17: Devin McCourty regained his captaincy with Mayo gone and the Patriots signed cornerback Travis Howard to their practice squad.

UPDATE 10/18: Rob Ninkovich was also named a captain, in place of Vince Wilfork.

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The Only Thing Notable On Thursday Night At Gillette: Dane Fletcher Tore His Left ACL

Like every other red-blooded American, I know that the NFL is king and I am thrilled that the regular season starts in one month. However, stories from training camp and viewing preseason games is about as interesting to me as watching paint dry then talking about it for weeks on end.

New England opened its 2012 preseason tonight at Gillette Stadium against New Orleans and though the Patriots won 7-6, that's the furthest thing from my mind. The only thing I will takeaway from this exhibition is that linebacker Dane Fletcher is likely done for the season after reportedly tearing his left ACL.

He got hurt playing special teams so if he misses 2012, that means that Bobby Carpenter, Jeff Tarpinian and Mike Rivera all have a better shot of making the 53-man roster. Fletcher is entering his third season and he would have been a valuable reserve since he can play middle linebacker (where he started tonight) and special teams. Still, he had 32 tackles last season in 10 games (5 starts) so he's certainly replaceable. I'm not ripping the guy at all but if he's the biggest injury the Patriots suffer in the preseason, that's great news.

The other guy banged up in the game was wide receiver Britt Davis, who caught a 3-yard touchdown from Brian Hoyer in the third quarter. Late in the fourth quarter, he appeared to hurt his shoulder after a Saints defender fell on it after tackling him to the ground. There is basically no shot that he will make the team so this has no impact whatsoever. Still, I hope he's alright.

Bill Belichick has already given the team tomorrow and Saturday off since they don't play again until Monday, August 20 vs. Philadelphia. That game is back at Gillette and it is the second of four preseason games. Ugh, the real games can't come soon enough. Preseason football is terrible to watch with all the scrubs doing what they do (not much) on the field.

UPDATE 8/13: Ouch, both Fletcher and Davis were waived today by the Patriots.

UPDATE 8/14: Fletcher cleared waivers so he went back to the Pats who put him on IR.

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Patriots-Chiefs Injury Report For Monday Night Football

The New England Patriots (6-3) will be making their second appearance of the season on Monday Night Football, they opened 2011 in Miami on MNF, as they host the Kansas City Chiefs (4-5) at Gillette Stadium.

The injury report came out today and at least for the Pats, there were few surprises. Since we don't know much about the Chiefs' day to day news, I felt like their injuries were more interesting (if that makes sense).

New England cornerback Devin McCourty is doubtful with a shoulder injury; I'd be shocked if he played, there is no possible way he's healthy enough. Plus, why push him to return against Tyler Palko?

Also, predictably Patriots linebackers Brandon Spikes (knee) and Dane Fletcher (thumb) were both declared out. Is Fletcher dead? That has to be the only explanation. What type of thumb injury could keep a football player out this long?

Finally, linebacker Jeff Tarpinian (illness) and safety James Ihedigbo (shoulder) are both questionable. This would have made me laugh in August or September but sadly they both started last week against the Jets.

For Kansas City, quarterback Matt Cassel (aka Cameron from Ferris Bueller's Day Off) and linebacker Demorrio Williams are out. Cornerbacks Brandon Carr (ankle) and Brandon Flowers (back) along with defensive end Glenn Dorsey (knee) and safety Jon McGraw (shoulder) are all questionable.

I couldn't tell you if Carr is good or not but I know that Flowers is one of the best young defensive backs in the NFL. Dorsey was a beast at LSU but he hasn't made much of an impact for the Chiefs and McGraw is a scrub.

Stay tuned tomorrow and/or Monday as more information will come out.

UPDATE 11/20: Patriots safety Pat Chung (foot), cornerback Kyle Arrington (foot), running back BenJarvus Green-Ellis (toe), center Dan Connolly (groin), defensive end Shaun Ellis (rib), running back Kevin Faulk (knee), linebacker Gary Guyton (shoulder), wide receiver Taylor Price (hamstring), wide receiver Matthew Slater (shoulder), offensive lineman Nate Solder (concussion) and offensive lineman Sebastian Vollmer (back) are all questionable for tomorrow night.

UPDATE 11/21: You're not going to believe this but Ray Ventrone was added to the 53-man roster! Offensive lineman Thomas Clayton was released. Don't be shocked if rookie offensive lineman Marcus Cannon makes his NFL debut tonight. Also, McCourty was ruled out which if you've been reading this blog is not news at all.

The inactives for New England are: Chung, McCourty, Faulk, Tarpinian, Ryan Mallett, Fletcher and Spikes. For Kansas City, Dorsey and McGraw are the most notable guys that are out. Cassel was placed on IR today so UMass-Amerst wide receiver Jeremy Horne was called up off the practice squad.

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The Patriots Won't Tell You It But Sources Say Jerod Mayo Will Miss Six Weeks

Patriots middle linebacker Jerod Mayo went down with an MCL sprain in his left knee on Sunday in Oakland and it's been reported that he'll miss six weeks.

For a defense that is already one of the NFL's worst, losing it's signal-caller, in addition to its top tackler from the last three seasons (No. 1 in the NFL last season too) is very bad news.

I've heard some experts say in the last few days that it's not big of a loss since the Patriots defense is so bad in the first place but my question is have they seen Gary Guyton and Dane Fletcher-the two players that will most likely replace Mayo's minutes?

Mayo wears the green dot on his helmet (meaning the coaches are in his ears literally) for a reason. Along with Vince Wilfork and Devin McCourty, ironically the other first-round picks of past New England drafts, those three are far and away the most consistent and reliable defenders. I love the Guytons, Fletchers, Rob Ninkovichs and Mike Wrights of the world but let's not kid ourselves, there's a reason they were all undrafted.

If Mayo misses the next six weeks (Jets, Cowboys, bye, at Steelers, at Giants and at Jets), he'll really be missed since all of those teams are playoff contenders, no layups in that group. Mayo has been a captain since 2009 and he hurt the MCL in his right knee two years ago and recovered quicker than expected so let's cross our fingers that the same thing transpires this time too.

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