Honestly, What the Hell is Happening in Foxborough?

A bizarre week for the Patriots got even weirder as word came out this afternoon that they had surprisingly released second-year wide receiver Kenbrell Thompkins. From a production standpoint, this move makes sense since he's only caught six passes for 53 yards this season and been inactive for two of the last three games but not injured as far as we know.

Still, this former undrafted rookie was a guy that was hyped up last season by everyone in the organization and now they're deserting him? It's not like the Pats are loaded at wide receiver. Without him, they are left with only Julian Edelman, Danny Amendola, Brandon LaFell, Aaron Dobson and Matthew Slater (primarily a special teamer).

I read that this could be temporary and they could re-sign him next week (to save money I'm sure) but if he's on waivers, you'd have to think that somebody would claim him. He also has practice squad eligibility for what that's worth. I really don't understand this. He's not a star by any means and we haven't heard rumblings of drama with him (like Dobson) plus Brady supposedly enjoyed working with him. Last season he started eight games and had 32 catches for 446 yards and four touchdowns.

The final aspect of this that's unexplainable is that wide receiver Brian Tyms is eligible to be activated for tomorrow's do-or-die game vs. Bengals but New England won't do it. They're also leaving cornerback Brandon Browner inactive since they have the option to do that for a week coming off suspensions before they have to make a real decision. For Thompkins' roster spot, they promoted linebacker Ja'Gared Davis from the practice squad (to cover for Nate Ebner on special teams while he's out).

Needless to say, the Patriots could use a win in the worst way vs. Cincinnati. It certainly wouldn't cure all their problems but at least it would give them some type of positivity to rally around. There hasn't been any of that around them for weeks.

UPDATE 10/6: Thompkins was reportedly claimed off waivers by Oakland so there goes the idea that he'd be back here. Nice going Patriots. Browner and Tyms were both activated while the Pats released DL Joe Vellano and put DL Michael Buchanan on IR.

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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 4 Injury Report: Patriots at Falcons

There is still plenty of time left before Sunday Night Football (8:30, NBC) pits the Patriots (3-0) at the Falcons (1-2) but the injury report still came out at the same time as usual this afternoon.

In addition, New England also made a roster move as they somewhat surprisingly released cornerback Marquice Cole who had been dealing with a hamstring injury. I wouldn't be shocked to see him back soon when he's healthy since he sees playing time in nickel and dime packages plus he's on all the special teams.

As for who will or won't play at the Georgia Dome, the three names on all Patriots' fans minds are Rob Gronkowski (back/forearm), Danny Amendola (groin) and Sebastian Vollmer (foot). They are all questionable but it sounds like Amendola won't play; Gronk is slowing getting better and Vollmer missed practice on Tuesday and Wednesday but returned in a limited capacity today.

The other questionable Patriots are Kyle Arrington (groin), Nate Ebner (ankle), Will Svitek (knee) and Leon Washington (knee). Special teams ace Matthew Slater (wrist) has already been ruled out but you knew that if you read my blog post from last week.

For Atlanta, running back Steven Jackson (hamstring) is still out while four other marquee guys are questionable: wide receivers Julio Jones (knee) and Roddy White (ankle) along with former Patriots cornerback Asante Samuel (thigh).

The annoying part of the late kickoff, besides its conflict with great television shows (Boardwalk Empire, Bar Rescue and Breaking Bad to name a few), we also have to listen to basically another full day of injury speculation regarding Amendola and Gronk. Ugh, I can't wait to have them back on the field so we can stop hearing vague speculation from every NFL reporter with a Twitter account.

UPDATE 9/29: Patriots inactives are Steve Beauharnais, Slater, Amendola, Gronkowski, Jake Bequette, Chris Barker and Washington. Falcons inactives are Samuel, safety Kemal Ishmael, Jackson, linebacker Jamar Chaney, guard Harland Gunn, tackle Ryan Schrader and defensive tackle Travian Robertson.

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Week 15: 49ers At Patriots Injury Report

The Patriots (10-3) host the 49ers (9-3-1) on Sunday night (8:20 p.m., NBC) at Gillette Stadium in what could be the regular season game of the year for 2012. Granted, we said the same thing about last Monday-New England vs. Houston-and we all know how that one turned out.

Rob Gronkowski returned to practice for the first time today since breaking his forearm on November 18 but don't get your hopes up: CSN's Tom E. Curran thinks that he'll sit out the rest of the regular season and who could argue with that? No need to rush him back when the Patriots' offense is still putting up crazy numbers without him.

Other than Gronk, there are 17 other Patriots that are listed as questionable. San Francisco only had wide receiver Mario Manningham declared doubtful. The three New England players to pay the most attention to are cornerbacks Aqib Talib (hip) and Alfonzo Dennard (hamstring) plus tackle Nate Solder (abdomen). Talib and Dennard left the Texans game with injuries while Solder was limited in practice today and popped up on the list.

Let's all pretend that Kyle Arrington (knee), Ron Brace (elbow), Patrick Chung (shoulder/hamstring), Dan Connolly (back), Aaron Hernandez (ankle), Dont'a Hightower (hamstring), Chandler Jones (ankle), Brandon Lloyd (knee), Kyle Love (not injury related), Logan Mankins (ankle/calf), Nick McDonald (shoulder), Brandon Spikes (knee/ankle), Sebastian Vollmer (back/knee), Wes Welker (ankle) and Tracy White (elbow) might not play. Yeah that's it.

This will be updated before kickoff on Sunday night as we find out who is missing out on this possible Super Bowl preview.

UPDATE 12/15: Manningham is out. The Patriots currently have 52 players on the active roster, meaning that they have one open spot and they will only need to make six guys inactive tomorrow night instead of seven. We'll have to see who they add in the next few weeks, it's hard to believe they would stay at 52 past this game.

In honor of the victims of the Newtown, CT tragedy, New England will wear black-ribbon logos on their helmets and light 26 white flares during a moment of silence before Sunday night's game. A nice touch that they might as well carry on for the rest of the season if you ask me.

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Happy Tom Brady Day From The NFL

It is only right that on Tom Brady Day (12/12/12), our lord and savior was honored by the NFL with yet another AFC Offensive Player of the Week award. It is the 23rd of his career which pushes him ahead of Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning.

In Monday night's beatdown of the Houston Texans, Brady was 21-of-35 for 296 yards, four touchdowns and zero interceptions plus that nifty six-yard run for a first down that featured him getting the crowd pumped up afterwards. His total quarterback rating was 95.6 with a passer rating of 125.4. Just like that performance showed that New England (10-3) is the team to beat in the AFC and maybe the NFL, Brady's MVP candidacy received a significant bump thanks to the Monday Night Football spotlight.

Brady and his team have another great chance to build their impressive resume on Sunday night (8:20 p.m., NBC) as they host the San Francisco 49ers (9-3-1), who are one of the top teams in the NFC and the NFL.

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Patriots-Ravens Injury Report Plus 2 Patriots Fined From Last Week's Game Vs. Cardinals

It's only taken three weeks in the 2012 regular season for the Patriots to start to employ their usual tricks on the injury report. Today, they listed 10 players as questionable while also designating Aaron Hernandez (ankle) and defensive tackle Justin Francis (ankle) out for Sunday night's game vs. Baltimore.

The funny part is that the Ravens clearly don't bother pulling the same stunts since they only list one player as doubtful: offensive tackle Jah Reid (calf). Other than that, everyone else is probable which isn't even worth mentioning if you ask me.

For New England, guard Dan Connolly (concussion), defensive end Brandon Deaderick (ankle), cornerback Alfonzo Dennard (hamstring), tight end Daniel Fells (shin), wide receiver Brandon Lloyd (thigh), guard Logan Mankins (hip), offensive lineman Nick McDonald (shoulder), cornerback Sterling Moore (knee), running back Shane Vereen (foot) and offensive tackle Sebastian Vollmer (back) are the long list of questionable players.

The most important guys for the Patriots in that group are Connolly, Lloyd, Mankins and Vollmer. Their offensive line is the biggest weakness on the team and those guys are basically all the best players at that position so yikes. Hopefully they can all suit up against Baltimore for what should be a close, great game.

In other Pats news, safety Steve Gregory and linebacker Jerod Mayo were both fined today related to the 20-18 loss to the Cardinals on Sunday. Even though he wasn't penalized on the play, Mayo was fined $21,000 for what the NFL deemed unnecessary roughness on a hard hit of Arizona wide receiver Early Doucet. They thought he hit a defenseless receiver in the head and neck area although when it happened, it just looked like a clean hit. Gregory was fined $7875 for a late hit on tight end Todd Heap. Ironically, he was penalized on the play along with linebacker Brandon Spikes (for roughing the passer). That's what makes it strange that Spikes wasn't fined and Mayo's fine was way higher than Gregory's. Who knows?

Stay tuned tomorrow night and Sunday afternoon as we learn what Patriots will be inactive for the game against the Ravens which is on Sunday Night Football (8:20 p.m., NBC).

UPDATE 9/22: New England declared Deaderick and Dennard both out for tomorrow night. Before kickoff, the Pats will make three additional players inactive.

UPDATE 9/23: Vereen, McDonald and defensive end Jake Bequette are the other inactives for the Patriots. Sergio Kindle, Reid, Asa Jackson, Billy Bajema, DeAngelo Tyson, LaQuan Williams and Bryan Hall are all inactive for the Ravens. I've only heard of the first two guys but no major losses there for Baltimore.

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