Patriots place critical defensive piece on injured reserve
The Pats will have to play at least the next four games without one of their most important, productive players.
The Patriots are going to have to get through at least the next four games without Milton Williams.
As the team officially announced Saturday, Williams is being placed on injured reserve. ESPN's Jeremy Fowler reported earlier that Williams has a high-ankle sprain. Williams left Thursday's win over the Jets with the injury in the first quarter, and later returned to try to play through it, but ultimately exited after playing just eight snaps. Williams will now miss at least the next four games. Since the Pats have their bye week in Week 14, Williams won't be eligible to return until Week 17 at the earliest, when the Patriots play the Jets again on Dec. 28. That'll give Williams at least six weeks to recover, which should be enough if the injury is mild-to-moderate in nature.
Williams had played the most defensive snaps of any Patriots defensive lineman prior to Thursday's game. The highest-paid free-agent signing in the history of the team, Williams amassed 3.5 sacks, eight quarterback hits, and 27 total tackles in his first 11 games as a Patriot. According to Pro Football Focus, Williams is second among all interior defenders in the NFL with 35 total pressures. There will be a huge amount of pressure on Christian Barmore to produce in Williams' absence, but he has already dealt with a lot of heavy attention from opposing pass protectors. Cory Durden, who played a season-high 34 snaps against the Jets, also figures to keep his increased workload over the next four games, while Khyiris Tonga will likely be leaned on a little more.
To fill Williams' spot on the 53-man roster, the Patriots signed rookie linebacker Bradyn Swinson from the practice squad.
After getting through the first half of the 2025 season with relative good fortune in the health department, the Patriots finally have a significant loss to manage with their roster. It's also their first major loss on defense, after the injury bug bit the Pats on offense in recent weeks.
The Patriots (9-2) have a mini-bye to work on their defensive adjustments without Williams in the lineup. They officially get back to action in Week 12 on the road against the Cincinnati Bengals.
