Week 12 Injury Report: Patriots vs. Broncos

Hey everyone, did you hear? The Patriots (7-3) host the Broncos (9-1) on Sunday night (8:25, NBC) at Gillette Stadium! I bet this is the first time all week that you've read about this game which I actually think could be pretty decent. Today, the injury report came out for this huge AFC showdown.

For New England, tight end Michael Hoomanawanui (knee) is the only player on either team who has already been declared out. Five guys are questionable: Kyle Arrington (groin), Alfonzo Dennard (knee), Steve Gregory (finger), Aqib Talib (hip) and Leon Washington (ankle). You'll notice that the first four are key parts of the Patriots' secondary. I'm confident that Arrington, Gregory and Talib will play. Dennard had surgery last week so I'd be stunned if he played and Washington never suits up so I won't hold my breath for him.

Denver has already taken much of the intrigue leading up to kickoff out of it by saying that Wes Welker (concussion) is probable. Obviously we all want to see him play (and in a weird way, torch the Pats) but I hope they don't rush him back simply because they are playing New England. You can't mess with head injuries as former NFL players have taught us in recent history. Fossil cornerback Champ Bailey (foot) and budding young star tight end Julius Thomas (knee) are the only Broncos that are questionable.

Stay tuned on Sunday afternoon/early evening as I update this with the remaining inactives. After that, let Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth (the best in the business) take us away.

UPDATE 11/23: The Patriots released Washington (for the second time) and promoted cornerback Justin Green from the practice squad.

UPDATE 11/24: The Patriots inactives are Gregory, Hooman, Jake Bequette, Steve Beauharnais, Marcus Forston, Josh Boyce and Chris Barker. The inactives for the Broncos are QB Zac Dysert, RB Ronnie Hillman, Bailey, S Michael Huff, OL J.D. Walton, G Chris Kuper and Julius Thomas.

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Week 8 Injury Report: Patriots vs. Dolphins

This weekend marks the unofficial halfway point for all the NFL teams playing their eighth game of the regular season, crazy right? New England (5-2) hosts Miami (3-3) on Sunday (1, CBS) at Gillette Stadium in their first of two meetings between the AFC East rivals (and I use that term loosely). Both teams really need a victory, the Pats have lost two out of their last three sandwiched around an improbable comeback win over the Saints while the Dolphins have lost their last three games after a nice 3-0 start.

Today the injury reports came out and for our purposes, Miami's is irrelevant because they didn't list anyone at less than probable. Haha that's no fun guys! On New England, Leon Washington and Tommy Kelly continue to be out making you wonder when they'll return this season and if they'll have any impact (well at least Kelly already did, Washington not so much).

Seven Patriots are questionable: Michael Hoomanawanui (knee), Brandon Bolden (knee), Tavon Wilson (hamstring), Danny Amendola (concussion), Aqib Talib (hip), Marcus Cannon (shoulder) and Julian Edelman (thigh). Amendola and Talib obviously are the most important, I'm assuming that Edelman is playing since he hasn't missed any action yet (shocking I know), and they both returned to practice this week which is always a good sign.

We'll have to wait until Sunday to see who else will join Kelly and Washington on the sidelines, keep in mind seven players are deemed inactive on gamedays from the 53-man roster.

UPDATE 10/27: Dolphins inactives-DBs Jamar Taylor and Will Davis; QB Pat Devlin, RB Mike Gillislee, OT Dallas Thomas, OGs Danny Watkins and Will Yeatman. Patriots inactives-Talib, Josh Boyce, Steve Beauharnais, Kelly, Washington, Jake Bequette (how is he still on the team?) and Chris Barker.

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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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Week 6 Injury Report: Patriots vs. Saints

Let's get right to it since I think my brain will melt if I listen to one more word from an ill-informed sportswriter about Rob Gronkowski's health. As has been the custom the last few weeks, early in the week reporters indicated that this could be the week when he returned. Now, he's listed as questionable on the injury report for Sunday's game (4:25, Fox) vs. New Orleans (5-0) which is no surprise but it sounds like he might be out again. Ugh, who knows?

What can say for sure is that Tommy Kelly (knee) and Leon Washington (ankle) are both out for New England. It's nice to see those guys hold up for a full season, oh wait. Saints safety Roman Harper (knee) and defensive tackle Tyrunn Walker (knee) were also declared out.

Besides Gronkowski, six other Patriots are questionable for this big showdown: Matthew Slater (wrist), Stevan Ridley (knee), Brandon Bolden (knee), Danny Amendola (knee), Ryan Wendell (concussion) and Tavon Wilson (hamstring). Ridley and Amendola are the biggest names on here but Wendell's injury is new plus he's the starting center so I'd say that he's important too.

Props to New Orleans for playing the same stupid mind games as the Pats (most opposing teams don't bother with this bullshit), they also list seven players as questionable: defensive tackle Brodrick Bunkley (calf), tackle Zach Strief (ankle), running back Mark Ingram (toe), cornerback Keenan Lewis (knee), wide receiver Lance Moore (hand), linebacker Ramon Humber (calf) and safety Malcolm Jenkins (neck). I don't follow the Saints closely enough to know how serious they are with their injury reports; off the top of my head, I feel like Strief, Lewis and Jenkins would be the most important guys with Moore also being solid.

UPDATE 10/12: In case you were wondering if the NFL has changed their misguided priorities, they haven't. Patriots linebacker Brandon Spikes was fined $7875 for wearing red cleats last week. Apparently the Pats only are allowed to wear blue and white cleats. Who cares?

This afternoon, Pats promoted defensive tackle Marcus Forston from the practice squad and released defensive tackle Andre Neblett who they signed earlier this week.

UPDATE 10/13: Patriots inactives are Kelly, Slater, offensive lineman Chris Barker (still not sure he exists), wide receiver Josh Boyce, Gronkowski, Washington and Wilson. The Saints inactives are Moore, Ingram, cornerback Rod Sweeting, Harper, Strief, Walker and linebacker Martez Wilson.

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Week 2 Injury Report: Patriots vs. Jets

It's hard to believe but the Patriots will be playing another game a little more than 24 hours from now. New England (1-0) welcomes the Jets (1-0) to Gillette Stadium for the first installment of their yearly double dose of AFC East hatred. It is also New England's 2013 home opener. For the last few days, we've been focused on all the Pats injuries and now we know the status' of Shane Vereen (wrist) who is out until at least Week 11 while Danny Amendola (groin) and Rob Gronkowski (back/forearm) are both doubtful as expected.

For the Jets, three players have already been ruled out: defensive lineman Quinton Coples (ankle), wide receiver Jeremy Kerley (concussion) and quarterback/punching bag Mark Sanchez (shoulder). Everyone else on New York is listed as probable so we won't bother with them. We'll have to wait until tomorrow night (8:25, NFL Network and ABC) to see what other four guys are inactive for Rex Ryan's squad.

In addition, eight Patriots are questionable: Brandon Bolden (knee), Aaron Dobson (hamstring), Nate Ebner (ankle), Duron Harmon (hamstring), Matthew Slater (knee), Zach Sudfeld (hamstring), Will Svitek (knee) and Leon Washington (knee). Slater and Sudfeld are the ones I'll be keeping a close eye on since they played vs. Buffalo on Sunday afternoon. The other six guys didn't suit up against the Bills but I expect Dobson to play since Amendola will be on the sideline.

I'll update this tomorrow before the opening kickoff. In other Patriots roster news, they picked up rookie defensive lineman Chris Jones off waivers from Tampa Bay. To make room for him, they waived offensive lineman Josh Kline who I feel like has been involved in a million moves over the last few weeks.

UPDATE 9/12: The inactives for the Patriots are Bolden, Amendola, Svitek, linebacker Steven Beauharnais, Gronk, Sudfeld and Jones. The inactives for the Jets are quarterback Brady Quinn, guard William Campbell, tackle Ben Ijalana, tackle Oday Aboushi in addition to Coples, Kerey and Sanchez.

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For Now The Patriots' 53-Man Roster Is Set, With Some Surprises

It's a long weekend, basically the last taste of summer, so you're excused if your head is spinning from all the moves the Patriots made the last few days to whittle down their roster to 53 players plus start to assemble a practice squad. Obviously the big news on Saturday was that Tim Tebow was released (I was wrong!) while Adrian Wilson was placed on IR and Zoltan Mesko was cut.

This afternoon, the Pats continued to make some interesting choices as Leon Washington and Marquice Cole were released. Oh and Gronk practiced in full pads for the first time. To fill out their active roster, New England claimed four players off waivers: center Braxston Cave, guard Chris Barker and defensive tackle A.J. Francis who are all rookies along with third-year linebacker Chris White.

I thought Tebow would make the roster simply because he had Josh McDaniels and Bill Belichick in his corner but seeing how much he struggled in the preseason, you have to wonder if he'll ever play in the NFL again. Rookie Ryan Allen beat out Mesko who had been solid for the last few years. It's hard to believe that Gronk would play in Week 1 or 2 (short turnaround for Thursday home opener vs. Jets) but the fact that he's ramping up his activities in practice can only be a good thing.

There are seven spots on a practice squad and so far the Pats have signed five guys: linebackers Ja'Gared Davis and Jeff Tarpinian, defensive lineman Marcus Forston, safety Kanorris Davis and cornerback Justin Green.

We've made it, thus begins the first week leading up to the opener on Sunday (1 p.m., CBS) at Buffalo. During the regular season, I'll post the injury report on Friday then update it before kickoff. Also, I'll keep up to date on any other news that happens during the week. Looking forward to it all, football's back!

UPDATE 9/3: On Monday, the Patriots resigned Cole and waived undrafted rookie guard Josh Kline. Also, fullback James Develin was released and tight end Matthew Mulligan is expected to be signed after New England worked him out on Monday. Undrafted rookie offensive lineman R.J. Dill was added to the practice squad so there is one spot left on that.

UPDATE 9/5: Kline was resigned to the practice squad and linebacker Jeff Tarpinian (the new Ross Ventrone?) was released from the practice squad.

UPDATE: Cave and Mulligan were released while offensive tackle Jordan Devey was signed to the practice squad. Develin reportedly will be re-signed, leaving the Pats with one open roster spot heading into Friday (two days before the season opener in Buffalo).

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Patriots Sign Donald Jones, Bring Back Kyle Arrington For Four More Years

Thanks to Twitter and the fine work of tireless NFL writers, we can all feel like ESPN's Adam Schefter with all the non-stop action in terms of NFL free agency. Today, the Patriots signed former Bills wide receiver Donald Jones (terms of the contract weren't known) and re-signed cornerback Kyle Arrington to a four-year deal.

In addition to those moves, running back Danny Woodhead signed a two-year deal with San Diego and the Patriots hosted free agent wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders ( I like him better than Jones but he's nothing special), defensive ends John Abraham and Dwight Freeney along with safety Adrian Wilson. If you need to sit down for a second or stop looking at the computer screen, I understand. Can you say ice cream headache? Woodhead will be missed but with Leon Washington, his role was basically eliminated.

Jones won't set the world on fire but he registered career-highs in catches (43), receiving yards (443) and receiving touchdowns (4) last season in Buffalo with the erratic Ryan Fitzpatrick throwing him the ball. The Pats obviously saw him up close and personal the last three years and he had two solid performances against them in 2012: he combined for eight catches, 164 receiving yards and two touchdowns (1 in each game). He set a career-long with a 68-yard catch against New England in Buffalo in Week 4. Hopefully, he can learn the playbook quickly and find a connection with Tom Brady. It could do wonders for his career, we'll have to wait and see.

Arrington fell to third on the Pats cornerback depth chart last season after they acquired Aqib Talib and the emergence of rookie Alfonzo Dennard. Now, Talib is a free agent (who knows if he'll return) and Dennard is potentially facing jail time, they had to bring Arrington back since he's young (26) and entering his fifth year in New England's system. He's durable since he's played 16 games in each of the last three seasons and versatile because he also plays on special teams. His seven interceptions in 2011 seems like a random blip since he had zero interceptions last season but I have no problem with a few more years of Arrington.

Moving forward, the Patriots need to keep bringing in talent on defense. Veterans like Abraham, Freeney and Wilson are all appealing since while they might be a bit long in the tooth, they can still make plays and most importantly, they can bring the leadership that they side of the ball desperately needs with so many young but important guys on the team (Devin McCourty, Chandler Jones, Brandon Spikes, Dont'a Hightower, etc).

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At Least The Patriots Kick Return Game Is Getting A Serious Upgrade

The Patriots' raid of the NFC West continued today as they added kick returner Leon Washington (formerly of the Seattle Seahawks) on a one-year deal (terms were not disclosed). This comes a day after they gave former Rams wide receiver Danny Amendola a five-year deal. He's a two-time Pro Bowler (2008, 2012) who was also named an All-Pro in 2008 specifically for his prowess on punt returns and kick returns, an area that New England has really struggled the last few seasons.

Drafted in the fourth round by the Jets in 2006, Washington started out as more of a third-down back but he has morphed into mostly a return specialist. He played four seasons in New York and was in Seattle for the last three years. He's been durable too, playing in all 16 games in six of seven seasons. In 2012, he averaged 29.0 yards per kick return (2nd in the NFL to Baltimore's Jacoby Jones) with one touchdown and 8.7 yards per punt return.

He is tied for the most kick return touchdowns (8) in NFL history with Josh Cribbs. Seattle deemed him expendable since he'll be 31 in August and they just traded for Percy Harvin. The Patriots were 25th in the NFL last season with an average of 21.2 yards per kick return (from Devin McCourty and Danny Woodhead) so this should be a huge upgrade to their special teams.

Getting Washington means that Jeff Demps Patriots career might be over before it ever really started (since he missed last season on IR). Anyways, there has been talk that he wants to pursue a professional track career and I'm sure the team didn't want to hear that. Also, this could mean that Woodhead is gone if New England trusts Washington to get more touches than last season with the Seahawks (23 rushes, 4 catches). For his career, Washington has 2213 rushing yards, 16 rushing TDs, 146 catches, 1127 receiving yards and two TD catches. Keep in mind that he's short like Woodhead (5-foot-8) but bulkier (listed at 210 pounds).

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Matt Cassel accounts for 462 yards yet Patriots still lose to Jets in OT

A terrible start by the Patriots (facing a 24-6 hole in the second quarter) coupled with a defense that couldn't make enough stops led to a 34-31 overtime win by the New York Jets (7-3) last night at Gillette Stadium.

The win which vaulted New York into sole possession of first place in the AFC East was a gutcheck and while the Pats (6-4) admirably responded and forced overtime, they have nobody to blame for the loss but themselves.

New England wasted outstanding performances from Matt Cassel (30 for 51, 400 yards, 3 touchdowns; 62 yards rushing) and stud rookie linebacker Jerod Mayo (16 solo tackles, 4 assists).

All game, we waited for the inevitable Brett Favre (26 for 33, 258 yards, 2 touchdowns) backbreaking mistake but it never materialized.

Randy Moss forced overtime when he made a 16-yard touchdown catch with one second left in the fourth quarter. Moss somehow balanced himself in the corner of the end zone and snagged the pass while getting both feet inbounds. Ty Law was on his back the whole time but he was helpless to stop the play.

New York made a statement on its opening drive as they marched 62 yards and scored on a 7-yard catch and run by Leon Washington.

Stephen Gostowski kicked a 42-yard field goal to get the Patriots on the board on their first possession.

Jay Feely kicked a 22-yard field goal with six seconds left in the first quarter to give the Jets a 10-3 lead.

Once again, a promising Patriots drive stalled as they were forced to settle for three (a 31-yard Gostowski kick). This was magnified when Washington took the ensuing kickoff 92-yards for a touchdown.

Jerricho Cotchery's (5 catches, 87 yards) 15-yard catch and run for a score was an illustration of how bad New England's secondary is these days. They can't cover anybody and as the Jets (and Bills to a lesser degree on Sunday) showed, they can't tackle at all. In the off-season either through free agency or the draft, they have to address this glaring weakness.

Cassel and New England went into the locker room with some momentum as Jabar Gaffney (7 catches, 86 yards) hauled in a beautiful 19-yard TD pass with 15 seconds left.

The Jets finally made a mistake when Cotchery fumbled and Pats rookie linebacker Gary Guyton recovered it in the third quarter.

Making up for an earlier fumble in the third, Ben Watson (8 catches, 88 yards) caught a 10-yard score from Cassel as time ran out in the third. Gaffney pulled down the two-point conversion and the Pats were in business, down 24-21 headed into the fourth.

Gostowski tied it with a 47-yard kick. From there, New York worked the Pats defense over with a long drive that ended with a one-yard TD run by Thomas Jones (30 carries, 104 yards). The drive was filled with penalties and numerous mistakes by New England.

Facing fourth and 17 with two and a half minutes left, New England elected to punt (with one timeout left) but it paid off as they forced a Jets three and out.

They went 62 yards in eight plays with no timeouts. Wes Welker (7 catches, 108 yards) made some big gains on the tying drive.

With the crowd going crazy, the Jets won the cointoss and calmly moved down the field. The worst play for New England was third and 15 from deep in the Jets' territory. Dustin Keller (8 catches, 87 yards), who my buddy Curt said the Patriots look like Shannon Sharpe in his prime, gained 16 yards. If the Pats could have stopped the Jets on that play, they would have had great field position.

Feely clinched the win with a 34-yard kick that hooked left but stayed true.

The Patriots will have longer than usual to stew over this disappointing loss. They'll travel to Miami next Sunday for another huge AFC East game. The Dolphins smoked the Patriots earlier in the season and as they've proven since then, they're no longer a laughingstock.