Patriots RB Jeremy Hill Suffers Knee Injury

A lost fumble turned into a far greater loss in Sunday's 27-20 win over the Houston Texans for the New England Patriots.

With tight end Rob Gronkowski losing the ball on a 25-yard grab from Tom Brady, the Patriots quickly found themselves in pursuit of Tyrann Mathieu. Full back turned defender James Develin ultimately found Mathieu before the run could get going for anything more than a one-yard gain, but not before he smashed into running back Jeremy Hill's knee.

As Hill disappeared into the blue medical tent on the New England sidelines, it didn't take long before the team ruled him out with a knee injury. Given a team's tendency to go with a 'questionable' or 'doubtful' tag with even the most obvious injuries, the decision to almost automatically rule Hill certainly spoke to the severity of the injury (as if the replay didn't tell you enough).

Hill, who made the Patriots out of training camp at the expense of 2017 Patriots such as Mike Gillislee and Brandon Bolden, finished the game as New England's second-leading rusher, with 25 yards on four carries. He also added a catch for six yards.

After the game, Hill took to Twitter with a simple tweet seemingly talking about his injury by way of a Drake lyric.

If Hill misses an extended stretch, it's worth noting that neither Gillislee (signed with the Saints) nor Bolden (signed with the Dolphins) are available, and that 2018 first-round pick Sony Michel (knee) was among the inactives on Sunday.

The Patriots do have Ralph Webb, who rushed for 102 yards and two scores in the preseason, on their practice squad.