Patriots secondary takes another hit prior to matchup with Jets
The New England Patriots cornerback group has been thinned out due to injuries early this season. Week 3, they’ll be significantly shorthanded once again.
On Saturday, the team announced Jonathan Jones has been ruled out for Sunday’s game against the Jets. Jones was listed as questionable on Friday’s injury report due to an ankle injury.
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This will be the second game Jones misses due to the ankle injury. He was added to the injury report mid-week last week, suggesting he may have suffered the injury in practice.
Without Jones, the Patriots are now down three of their top four cornerbacks from the start of the season. Second-year cornerbacks Marcus Jones (shoulder) and Jack Jones (hamstring) are on IR, and are both expected to be out for extended periods of time.
That leaves the Patriots thin at the cornerback position. Rookie first-round Christian Gonzalez remains in the lineup and has played well, but who will play opposite him is a mystery for now. There are only two other true cornerbacks on the Patriots’ active roster – Myles Bryant and Shaun Wade, who are both primarily slot cornerbacks. The team also has Jalen Mills, who played cornerback in the past but converted to safety this year, and rookie sixth-round pick Ameer Speed, who has played exclusively on special teams this year.
Despite that lack of depth, the Patriots didn’t elevate any of the three cornerbacks from the practice squad for this week’s game. In fact, the team made no practice squad elevations at all – the first time they’ve elected not to do so this season.
In addition to Jones, the Patriots also ruled out rookie offensive lineman Sidy Sow for this game. Sow started at right tackle in Week 1 in place of Mike Onwenu, but wasn’t active last week as he deals with a concussion.
The Jets are dealing with their issues as well. Starting left tackle Duane Brown was ruled out Saturday morning with a hip injury, and later placed on IR. Starting right tackle Mekhi Becton has been banged up as well, but is expected to play after being removed from the injury report on Friday.
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