Patriots battered with several key injuries in Bengals win

The New England Patriots are really starting to get banged up.

Blessed with reasonably good health in the first half of the 2025 season, the Patriots just lost star defensive tackle Milton Williams for at least four total games with a high-ankle sprain. The proverbial injury bug is catching up, and Sunday in Cincinnati might have been the moment it gave them a nice, big bite in the ass.

Let's start with left tackle Will Campbell. The promising rookie left the game in the third quarter with a knee injury and did not return. He had to be carted off, and appeared emotional as he draped a towel over his head. Ian Rapoport reported Monday morning that Campbell is believed to have suffered a sprained MCL, which would be relatively good news. Mike Florio reported that Campbell will undergo an MRI on Monday to determine the severity of his injury, but that's pretty standard and was to be expected after how it looked on the field. Vederian Lowe entered the game at left tackle and allowed two total pressures in pass protection, according to initial charting from Pro Football Focus.

Unless Pats offensive line coach Doug Marrone has really worked his magic behind the scenes, the dropoff from Campbell to Lowe could be significant. It'll be on quarterback Drake Maye and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels to work around what would likely be a marked increase in blind side pressure.

Then there's the other rookie starter on the left side of the offensive line, left guard Jared Wilson. The third-round pick out of Georgia left the game early with an ankle injury without returning, which left Ben Brown to come in for his first snaps on offense since Week 7 at the Tennessee Titans. Brown allowed a QB hit and two total pressures in 40 pass-blocking snaps, per PFF. The Patriots had a third injury on the offensive line, but it was a false alarm: right tackle Morgan Moses briefly left the game with what the team called an illness, and rookie Marcus Bryant stepped in to take his place for seven snaps.

The Patriots couldn't escape without a new injury on defense, either. And it was another defensive tackle, Khyiris Tonga, who had to leave the game in the second quarter with a chest injury. In the absence of both Milton Williams and later Tonga, Cory Durden (35 snaps) and Eric Gregory (18 snaps) both played season-high workloads, while Jeremiah Pharms Jr. saw his first action of the season as a practice squad elevation.

It doesn't stop there: the Pats even had an injury on special teams. And it was to ace Brenden Schooler, who left with an ankle injury and did not return. Schooler entered the game as the Patriots' leader in special teams snaps with 229, a staple of their coverage and return units on kickoffs and punts.

Of all the injuries, the one to Campbell is certainly the one with the most potential impact if it turns out to be serious. The Patriots may be 10-2 and in the driver's seat in the AFC, but their depth is really about to get tested in all three phases of the game.