Week 7 Injury Report: Patriots at Jets

I don't want to jinx it since it has been such a long time coming, but it appears that Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski will finally make his 2013 debut on Sunday (1, NBCS) vs. the Jets (3-3) then home vs. Denver on Sunday Night Football. Today's injury report came out and both teams are banged up.

Danny Amendola (concussion), Tommy Kelly (knee) and Leon Washington are all out for New England while former Patriot/Invisible Man Greg Salas (knee) and Santonio Holmes (foot) leave New York with some pretty grimy options for rookie Geno Smith to pass to. Aqib Talib is doubtful (hip) so I'd be shocked to see him on the field on Sunday.

There are many things to loath about the Jets: their players, coaches or fanbase all make it way too easy for others. What I'm trying to say is that despite all that, I admire how New York doesn't screw around with its injury report. Salas and Holmes are the only guys they mention that aren't probable.

The Patriots were not impressed with that refreshing honesty as they piled eight guys that are questionable onto the report: Michael Hoomanawanui (knee), Dan Connolly (concussion), Brandon Bolden (knee), Matthew Slater (wrist), Julian Edelman (thigh), Marcus Cannon (shoulder), Tavon Wilson (hamsting) and Gronk (back). It's interesting to note that they don't mention his arm anymore.

I learned my lesson from Week 2's ugly ugly win by the Patriots that while they own the Jets at the moment, they always seem to have tight games vs the Jets for whatever reason. Stay tuned as I update this while the weekend goes by.

UPDATE 10/19: Wilson and Talib are out but the good news is that Gronk made the trip to NY/NJ so he appears to be playing tomorrow. We shall see.

UPDATE 10/20: Patriots inactives are Wilson, Talib, WR Josh Boyce, OL Chris Barker, Amendola, Kelly and Washington. Jets inactives are Brady Quinn, Holmes, Salas, LB Troy Davis, G William Campbell, T Ben Ijilana and T Oday Aboushi.

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Patriots Cap A Busy Day At Gillette By Bringing Back Deion Branch

When wide receiver Deion Branch was cut on August 31 as the Patriots trimmed their preseason roster down to 53 players, it was a pretty surprising development. However, I think most smart fans realized there was a good chance that he would be back soon enough this season in Foxborough.

It only took a little more than two weeks (and two games) and I'm happy to report that Branch has reached an agreement to return to New England. Apparently it was such a foregone conclusion that the team left his locker in place at Gillette Stadium. Aaron Hernandez's injury likely was the main catalyst for Branch's return since they'll need to find a way to duplicate Hernandez's production with multiple guys.

At 33, Branch is pretty long in the tooth for an NFL receiver but he put up decent numbers last season: 51 catches for 702 yards and five touchdowns in 15 games. Most importantly, he knows Tom Brady better than probably anyone that has ever played with him. Plus he's an outstanding leader and great teammate so you can always use a guy like that, especially in a time like this with the uncertainty surrounding the Wes Welker/Julian Edelman situation.

To make room for Branch and Kellen Winslow, the Pats released wide receiver Greg Salas, linebacker Mike Rivera and fullback Lex Hilliard. It's not hyperbole to say that those were probably the last three guys on the roster anyway. Salas never played since coming over from St. Louis a few weeks back, Rivera was only on special teams and Hilliard occupies a forgotten position.

It'll be interesting to see how much Branch and Winslow play on Sunday against the Ravens. It's shaping up to be a huge game since both teams are 1-1 and each are coming off a disappointing loss last Sunday. Baltimore has won 20 of its last 21 games at home so it is going to take a special effort from New England to beat them. If I had to put money on it, I would guess that Branch is more likely to see the field since he knows the playbook from last season and this preseason. One would think Winslow will need more time to get up to speed.

UPDATE 9/19: Filling that last roster spot, the Patriots also brought back linebacker Niko Koutouvides. He played in the last 11 regular season games and three playoff games last season. He was a staple of all four special teams units, which were a disaster on Sunday against the Cardinals.

Salas will return to the practice squad according to ESPNBoston.com's Mike Reiss.

UPDATE 9/20: With Salas back, wide receiver Kerry Taylor was released from the practice squad.

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Patriots Make A Flurry Of Moves, Also Set Their Practice Squad

A day after cutting the roster down to 53 players, the Patriots didn't rest as they traded for a wide receiver, released a linebacker and signed an offensive lineman this afternoon. Plus, they set their practice squad with seven players (leaving one open spot).

New England traded a late-round draft pick in 2015 to St. Louis for wide receiver Greg Salas, who was a fourth-round pick in 2011. He played in six games last season before breaking his leg. He had 27 catches for 264 receiving yards with three fumbles. He was an AP third-team All-American at Hawaii in 2010. His two biggest games as a rookie were eight catches for 77 yards against Green Bay on October 16 and seven catches for 59 yards against Arizona on November 6 (the game where he got injured). He provides depth for the Pats receiving corps which was dangerously thin after releasing Donte' Stallworth, Jabar Gaffney (who could return) and Deion Branch.

The Patriots also claimed offensive lineman Matt Tennant from the Saints, who has experience at center. The Boston College product is entering his third season in the NFL. A fifth-round pick in 2010, he appeared in 28 games (no starts) for New Orleans. Like Salas, he will be a versatile guy on the offensive line, which is always ravaged by injuries no matter what.

Finally, linebacker Bobby Carpenter was released. Frankly, I'm surprised this didn't happen sooner. Patriots beat writers claimed he looked good in training camp but he's been a nobody for years in the NFL, so what made me think that he suddenly turned the corner? The only surprising part is that Mike Rivera made the team and will be a backup linebacker. Before this preseason, I had never even heard of him.

The Patriots practice squad:
1) guard Thomas Austin (former Patriot)
2) fullback Eric Kettani (Navy alum, spent 2011 on Pats practice squad)
3) wide receiver Eric Kirkland (undrafted rookie from Kent State)
4) offensive tackle Jeff Kopa (spent 2011 on Pats practice squad)
5) tight end Alex Silvestro (formerly a defensive end on last seaosn's practice squad)
6) linebacker Jeff Tarpinian (played in 7 games with 1 start last season for New England)
7) cornerback Malcolm Williams (2011 7th round draft choice, played in 5 games last season)

UPDATE 9/3: The Patriots signed fullback James Develin to the practice squad. He was a defensive lineman at Brown and found himself on the Bengals' practice squad the last two seasons.

UPDATE 9/4: Kettani was released from the practice squad which makes sense since they have Develin. Also, running back Lex Hilliard (a former Dolphin and more recently Viking) was signed while Tennant was released. Other than Hilliard, they worked out nine players today including former Eagles quarterback Mike Kafka and plan to work out former Seahawks, Buccaneers and Browns tight end Kellen Winslow later this week. You can't read too much into those, they are simply updating their emergency lists for the regular season.

Offensive lineman Jeremiah Warren was signed to the practice squad, taking Kettani's spot. He was with New England in the preseason and was cut last Friday as the team got down to 53 players on the active roster.

UPDATE 9/5: Kirkland was released from the practice squad and re-signed wide receiver Kerry Taylor that played in New England's final preseason game. Stop me if you've heard this before, the Pats signed a scrub tight end: former Ram Michael Hoomanawanui while Visanthe Shiancoe was placed on IR with the new designation to return (practice after Week 6, game after Week 8). Like Greg Salas acquired last weekend, Hoomanawanui is quite familiar with offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels since they were both in St. Louis.

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